Absence of Fear
by sameoldsonganddance
Summary: Opie Winston's little sister has been kept away from the club life. What happens though to her and the killer tasked to watch out for her when the club calls her home.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone! This is my third story and my second Happy one hope you like it as well. I wanted to see how Happy would deal with someone who was closer to the club. This story will run in conjunction with my Chibs story Ringfinger the characters won't really interact with each other too much but some of their actions might make more sense if you read both stories. Since this story is running with that story I will post chapters to this story when they match up with Ringfinger so you might get a couple of chapters all at once or you might have to wait a while.**

**Chapter 1**

Madelynn Winston awoke to the shrill sound of her phone ringing. Groaning from under her covers, she opened one eye and squinted at the alarm clock that read two am. Letting out a string of curse words, she reached for her phone, flipping it open and not bothering to look at the caller ID. Shunning all pleasantries she grumbled "this better be fucking good", bolting upright when she heard the voice on the other end.

"Maddie?" the gruff voice choked out. She had grown up with the sound of that voice but never in her life had she heard it quiver with such uncertainty.

"Pop?"

"You need to come home. There's been an accident."

Maddie held her breath. "Opie?" she questioned, afraid of the answer.

"No baby it's Donna, she's gone." For a moment Maddie stupidly wanted to ask 'where' but she knew what he was saying. "Get your ass here to your brother's" was all he said before the line went dead.

She sat there in the master bedroom of her two-bedroom house in Bakersfield wondering if she was still sleeping and if she had dreamed that call, but the phone in her hand showing the last call as 'Pop' told her otherwise. She had always expected that a late night call from Charming would come someday but she hadn't expected it to be her father on the line or that the name would be Donna. His demand to go to her brother's house ringing in her ears, Maddie got her ass up and quickly began shoving things in a bag. Not bothering to change out of her pink pajamas, she threw on a bra, grabbed her work computer and was out to her red Nissan Maxima in a heartbeat. Her father had insisted on the Maxima because it was a safe, reliable car but she had insisted on red. The Winston's were a strong-willed bunch.

She knew with the late hour she would be pulling into her brother's driveway in two and half hours - maybe two if she pushed it. She would push it for this, her brother needed her. Pulling on to the highway, she headed towards Charming. If the situation wasn't so serious, she would have laughed at Piney's words telling her to come home. Charming hadn't been her home for 11 years - since her mother had left their father and taken her and Opie, who was 16 at the time, to Sacramento. Opie wasted no time in making his choice - quickly running away that first night to live with Piney. Madelynn, who was only 12 at the time, didn't get to make that choice. She was permanently moved to Sacramento with her mother, only spending the summers and a few holidays in Charming. When she was 18, she left her mother's care and went off to college in San Diego for four years. The only time she set foot in that little town was for the major holidays. When she was done with college, she was hired at a publishing house in Bakersfield. She was now the assistant to the editor, and hoping to one-day change that title to assistant editor.

She had graduated top of her class and had several job opportunities to choose from, but her home state would always be California. Not wanting to be within a stone's throw of either of her parents, she had settled on a lower end publishing house in Bakersfield and had lived there for the past year. She loved it there, she got to be on her own but was also within driving distance to her older brother and his kids. When Opie had been locked up, she often made the drive to help Donna, who she thought of as a sister, with the kids. Her heart clenched at the thought that she was gone and tears started to form. She'd just talked to her a couple of days ago and promised to come for Christmas and stay with them. She pushed the tears back, not wanting to cause an accident and also because she knew if they started, they wouldn't stop.

She pulled into her usual gas station an hour later to fill up and grab a coffee. The rest of the drive she spent with the radio cranked up, singing along to whatever song shuffled through her iPod. With the window rolled down, the crisp California air kept her awake until she turned onto Opie's quiet street. When she pulled into the driveway, she looked at Donna's car almost inspecting it for dents and dings. Her father had said an accident so she had assumed it was a car accident, but she also noticed Opie's old clunker of a truck wasn't parked anywhere, just his bike. Grabbing her bags and fishing through her purse, she pulled out her key ring and found the key that was marked with an O and D in black sharpie marker. She slid the key into the lock, pushed the front door open and stepped into the darkened house. Dropping her bags, she shut and locked the front door, quietly making her way through the house and scanning for signs of life but coming up empty. Piney had said to go to Opie's house but maybe they were at the clubhouse. She was just about to reach for her phone when she saw the moonlight shining through the open door of the master bedroom, illuminating movement on the bed. She toed off her shoes and stood at the side of the bed, looking down at her brother sleeping on his side with his long arm wrapped around both the kids that slept next to him. She lifted the covers and slid into the small spot that looked like it had been left just for her, her arm going under his and pulled herself closer.

"Maddie?" she heard him question when he felt her next to him.

"I'm here Op," she said. She put her hand to his chest wondering if she could feel what a broken heart felt like.

"Oh god Maddie" she heard him moan in a whisper.

"It's alright Op, I'm here." It clearly wasn't all right but she didn't know what else to say to her brother who had just lost his wife. Her brother who had always been larger than life in her eyes, not just because he towered over her small 5' 2" frame but because that was who he had always been. Now he was a broken man who needed the comfort of his little sister for once. She pressed her upturned face against his t-shirt clad back and hugged him while he let his tears come freely. Hers wouldn't, she had to be strong this time for him and for his kids. She felt him relax against her hold, and she drifted off into a fitful sleep.

She was awoken by a tap on her shoulder. Rolling onto her back, she realised she was alone in bed. Still a little disoriented, she turned and saw Ellie standing next to her.

"Hey Kid."

"Grandma said to come get you up."

"Grandma Mary is here?"

"Uh huh."

She then heard her mother's shrill voice yell through the house. "Madelynn are you up?"

Maddie rolled her eyes, causing Ellie to giggle. "Yeah, Ma" she yelled back. Sitting up, she pulled Ellie into a hug, kissing the top of her head. "Your grandma is a real pain in my ass."

"That's what daddy says."

"Well he's right." Standing up, she grabbed her hair tie and coiled her long red hair into a bun.

"Aunt Maddie, are you going to stay with us?"

"Yep."

"Can we play rummy later?"

"Sure, first let's go see what your grandma wants."

She walked into the kitchen with Ellie trailing behind her. Mary was at the sink doing dishes while Kenny was on drying detail. Maddie grabbed a cold pancake from the plate by the oven. "You missed breakfast" Mary scolded, grabbing the plate with the remaining pancakes and tossing them into the trash. Shoving the rest of the pancake in her mouth, Maddie went to the fridge, searching for the OJ. Pouring a glass, she left room at the top and grabbed the vodka from the liquor stash on the counter. She was just about to pour when she heard Mary behind her.

"Really Madelynn?"

"What? It's past noon."

"I don't need shit from you today. We got to get this house cleaned before company starts coming by."

Maddie placed the vodka back without pouring herself some. "What you mean is for the Sons. I don't think they care, probably wouldn't notice if the fucking house was flooded in sewage." Mary might have been disdainful of the Sons but having a spotless house when they arrived was just one of the many ways that showed she was above them.

"Watch your mouth young lady! Get the mop and start in on these floors."

Maddie suddenly felt like she was a child again being chastised for every comment that came out of her mouth. She wanted to stomp her feet and tell her mother to shove it but she bit her tongue instead since the children were present. She pulled Kenny away from dish duty. "Come on kid show me where the mop and bucket is. You know what they say Kenny, two tears in a bucket fu..."

"Madelynn Winston!" the shrill came from across the room.

"What? I'm sure they've heard worse from Pop."

"I didn't raise you to be crass. Now stop messing around, you've wasted half the day sleeping already."

She wanted to tell her mother to cut her some slack. She had driven all the way from Bakersfield, after a phone call from her father telling her that her sister-in-law was dead. But she knew it wouldn't get her anywhere, just more criticism for her behavior. She spent the day cleaning with her mother constantly on her ass; she didn't do this or that right, when was she going to grow up, when was she going to take things seriously, when was she going to get married, have kids blah blah blah. Opie had disappeared somewhere before she had got out of bed so he wasn't there like he usually was to deflect her mother's wrath. The evening was spent helping her mother prepare dinner and of course being on the end of more scornful remarks like she wasn't ever going to land a man if she didn't learn how to cook anything decent. After dinner, she played cards with Ellie and Kenny and then helped get them off to bed, her mother following suit. Once the house was hers, she sat in the living room, a glass of straight whiskey in her hand. When Opie came through the door, he motioned to the tumbler in her hand.

"That bad huh?" he asked.

"A day with just me and Ma what do you think? Where'd you run off to?"

"Needed to have some time to myself. I just couldn't deal with her today. Thanks for taking the brunt of it."

"No problem, whatever you need I'm here"

"Everyone else asleep?"

"Yeah, Kenny's in his room, Ellie's in hers with Ma sleeping on the bottom bunk. I was just about to head to bed myself." She motioned to the couch that she had made up into a bed with spare blankets and pillows. "So if you could kindly get out of my room."

"You can take my room. I'll sleep on the couch."

"I'm fine with the couch. You're too big to sleep on this lumpy old thing, your feet are going to hang off, Sasquatch."

Opie shook his head, suddenly a little paler. "I can't Maddie, I can't go in there."

"Okay," she nodded letting him know she got it.

"Thanks for taking all of Ma's shit today."

"No problem, but you owe me asshole" she said, heading toward the master bedroom.

**Hope you like it so far, thanks for reading as always! Thanks to poppyandbeeb for all the hard work editing this and making it even better!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The third day of being stuck in the house with her mother had finally pushed Maddie over the edge. She had felt like jamming a fork in her eye during lunch just so she'd have to go to the ER and get away from her. By the time they finished with lunch, Opie looked at her sympathetically, pulling her aside. "Why don't you go for a drive? Get out of here for a while. I'll handle her for a bit on my own."

"Thank god Op! I can't even take the sound of her voice anymore today."

She rushed out the door to her car. She was already fully dressed, having been yelled at for staying in her pajamas the day before. She still hadn't seen or heard from Piney since he'd called that night. Right now she needed some comfort. She was holding her shit together in front of Opie and the kids but now suddenly she just wanted her dad, to have him pull her into his embrace and let her have the breakdown she needed away from prying eyes.

She knew he'd either be at the clubhouse or the cabin. The clubhouse being closer, she decided to check there. She pulled into the lot, scanning the line of bikes, she saw her father's bike. Getting out of her car, she desperately hoped that he hadn't parked the bike and taken the caddy to the cabin. It was Jax that spotted her first. Walking out of the garage, a smile crossed his face when he saw her. They had all grown up together, Maddie always tagging along with him and Opie. He was the person she had first gotten drunk with, got stoned with, and kissed. She quickly walked over to him, almost in a sprint, his arms opening to embrace her. "Maddie," he sighed his arms around her. Feeling the comfort of his leather, she almost lost it.

Pulling back from his embrace, she pushed the tears back again. No she would not break down here in front of all these men working on cars. Maddie had always been stubborn: holding her emotions at bay and always trying to be the hard ass her father had wanted her to be. As a child if she got upset about something, his response had always been "suck it up Maddie." There was no room for crying in the Winston clan, at least not in public, but she felt that this was a special occasion where her father would let her be all girly.

"Hey Jax, is my pop here?"

"Yeah he's around somewhere. How are you holding up darlin?"

She was just about to answer him when the gruff voice of her father boomed out. "Madelynn what are you doing here? You're supposed to be helping your ma."

She pulled fully away from Jax. "Hello to you too Pops. I've been here three days and you don't even have a hello for me?" Walking closer to him, she waited for him to open his arms, but no, Piney Winston didn't do hugs. He was a mean old grumpy bastard, always had been, always would be. She should have known better than to come here. Her lip started to quiver under his stare.

"Get your ass back to Opie's and help out for once. Jesus, your fucking brother needs you and you're here fucking around." Under the watchful eyes of not only Jax, but Chibs, Happy, and Bobby as well, he continued his tirade. "And I don't need shit from your Mother either, won't be long before she calls me to chew my ass out 'cause you disappeared on her."

"But Pop, I really need..."

"Maddie, I don't need your shit either. Go, move your ass" he said, waving her off.

She turned around and hung her head, hiding her cheeks which were pink with embarrassment. Her Father had just given her the old heave ho without a second glance. This was the man who was supposed to love her unconditionally but that didn't happen when your father was Piney Winston and you didn't possess a penis to get into his secret biker club. No, that love was given to Opie, the first born, the Son.

She spent the rest of the afternoon playing with the kids and avoiding her mother. After dinner and hours of video games, she managed to sneak out to the back patio and join Opie in solitude. She grabbed a cigarette from his pack of smokes. Taking a seat next to him, she lit the cigarette, enjoying that first drag. "Don't let Ma catch you," he told her motioning to the cigarette still at her lips.

"Fuck her" she responded, blowing out the plume of smoke. The cigarette was quickly hidden by her leg when she heard her mother's voice come through the open window though.

"Madelyn?"

Turning her head towards the open window, she shouted back. "What Ma? I'm out here with Op."

"Don't stay up too late, we got a busy day tomorrow, don't need you sleeping all day. Opie I'm putting the kids to bed, you should come in and say goodnight."

"Alright Ma" Opie responded for the both of them. Looking to Maddie with a smile on his lips he said "Fuck her huh?"

Maddie grinned and joined him in a laugh, a first for both of them in the past few days. "Fuck, she still scares the hell out of me."

When the silence returned, they sat side by side, smoking. It was Opie who spoke first. "You know why I love you Maddie?"

"Because I'm the only one who loves you more than you love yourself, you selfish prick." Taking a deep drag, she looked across at him. She hated seeing the sad smile that crossed his lips.

"No, I love you because you can just sit here with me not ask how I'm doing or feeling."

"You want to talk about how you're doing, talk about your feelings?"

"Nope."

"No reason to ask stupid questions then."

"How long are you here for?"

"As long as you need, I can work from here nothing really in Bakersfield calling me back right away."

"Ma said you were seeing some guy."

"Nope, ended that shit a while back" she responded, brushing stray ash from her jeans. She pulled her lightweight black wool jacket tighter around her against the cold night air.

"You ever going to have a relationship that lasts longer than three months?"

"You ever going to cut your hair or shave that beard?"

"Nope."

"Don't ask stupid questions then" she said smiling back at him. Everything in that moment felt right. Their normal banter was returning, teasing and loving each other as only siblings could do when they were pitted against their parents. At least now they could tackle Piney and Mary one at time, when they were married it was like living through Armageddon.

Opie stood up and leaned over to place a kiss on her head. "I love you Maddie" he said in his deep rumbling voice. She wanted to cry in his arms as she had done a thousand times growing up. Cry to him about the loss she was feeling and how she would give anything to have Donna back. She had loved her sister-in-law from the moment she met her, was maid of honor at their wedding. It was Donna who always made sure she was welcomed when she came to Charming. The weekly phone calls between them, the commiserating about what a bitch Marry was, that was all gone now. She was just about to lunge at him and let the tears finally fall when she heard the footsteps behind them. Looking up she saw Jax, Bobby, and Happy walk out onto the patio. The intimate brother-sister moment evaporated.

Opie greeted the men who had arrived. "I got to go tuck the kids in," he said. "I'm sure Maddie will keep you all entertained as usual."

She nodded her head to the three men. "Jax, Bobby, Hap" she greeted as Jax took Opie's vacated seat, while Bobby and Happy sat next to him.

Bobby paused to give her a kiss on the head and a "Hey, kid."

"How's he doing?" Jax asked, motioning to the house with a nod of his head.

She turned to look at Jax who was leaning on his elbows. "Like a guy whose wife just got killed in a hit meant for him."

"How are you doing?" Bobby asked giving her the concerned uncle face that she had grown accustomed to from the older members of the club.

"Like someone whose brother's wife got shot in a hit meant for him" she sarcastically replied. Her mother had told her everything. Maddie wasn't sure if she had told her about the shooting to fill the awkward silence in between yelling at her or because she wanted Maddie to finally take her side in her hate against the Sons.

"Maddie" Jax sighed, running his ringed hand over his hair in a characteristic gesture.

"Don't ask stupid questions Jax, how the fuck do you think we're doing? Donna's dead, my brother has no wife, and those kids don't have a mom anymore."

"I'm sorry Maddie, we're going to make it right."

"How?"

"Get the fuckers who did this."

"Yeah and then what?" she asked, her voice turning almost into a shout. "You get them, they get you, when does it end Jax? When only one of you are left standing? At what fucking cost?" Her voice was now raised above a normal decibel. "What if it's Gemma next time, or Abel? How much is too much? You can't fix this, you can't make it better, you..." She was cut short when Opie joined the group and silenced her.

"Enough Madelynn!"

Standing up, she stared at her brother. "I'm sorry Opie I forgot how much you guys hate being called out on your shit" came her sarcastic reply.

"Maddie," Opie said with frustration. He couldn't even help himself, he sure as shit wasn't sure how to help his sister through this.

"No, it's fine. I'm going to bed, got a busy day tomorrow planning a funeral and all. You riding the couch again?"

"Yeah. Maddie don't go."

"I'm tired Op" Maddie said walking in the house. She went to the master bedroom, slamming the door loud enough to shake the back door as Opie took her vacated seat.

He sighed, and ran his fingers through his hair. Grabbing a smoke and lighting it, he turned to Jax. "Sorry brother, she's seconds away from losing her shit."

"It's alright Op" Jax responded.

"She won't fucking talk to me, stubborn bitch. Thinks she has to hold it all in for me and the kids. Hasn't cried since she's got here and I know she's hurting. Not like she's going to talk to Mary either, you know no love lost between those two. Pop sure ain't going to help, he'd probably just tell her to suck it up and grow a pair."

"She came by TM today to see him. He fucking went off on her telling to get her ass back here."

"Fucking asshole, he should've never had a daughter. Well neither one of them should've had kids."

"You want me to see if Gem can get her to talk about it?"

"Nah, she'll wait until she's alone to deal with it. Won't show that weakness to anyone. You know the way she is."

Jax grinned at Opie. "Yeah, wonder where she got that from?"

After slamming the bedroom door, Madelynn went straight to the bathroom. Taking off her clothes and turning the shower on, she stepped under its warmth and allowed the steam to engulf her. Trying to wash away the shitty day, she let the water run down her coppery hair and over her short frame. While Opie had taken after their grandfather and gotten the height, she had taken after her short parents. At only twenty-three, she worked hard to keep her body from becoming wider like her mother, spending at least four days a week in the gym to keep it all toned. Once her porcelain skin had turned pink from the heat, she got out, wrapping a towel around her wet hair and grabbing the other to dry off. Not feeling like rummaging through her bag, she grabbed a pair of light blue panties from the top of her bag and one of Opie's black t-shirts from the closet to sleep in. She removed the towel from her head, running her fingers through her hair because she was too lazy to look for her brush. She opened the bathroom door, leaving the light on to partially illuminate the master bedroom.

She was startled to see him sitting on the edge of the bed. "Jesus Christ what are you doing in here?" she asked.

"Wanted to see how you were."

"Does Op know you're in here?"

"Nah, thinks I left. Parked my bike a few streets over and doubled back."

"Hap, he'll kill you if he finds you here. You should go."

"Not till we have a talk. I asked how you're doin."

"I'm fucking fine, now go."

"You sure about that? Didn't look like you were fine when you were biting Jax's head off."

"Jesus, is that what this is about? Because I snapped at the prince?"

"No, this is about you not being fine. I know you Maddie, can't hide from me."

"Hap just go, I need you to leave" she said, her voice starting to quiver.

"Work your shit out. I ain't leavin."

Her hand went to her mouth when she let out her first sob, the pain suddenly spilled out, taking her by surprise. By the time the second sob escaped, he was up from the bed, grabbing her and pulling her into his arms. He lifted her up slightly from the ground pulling them both back to the bed. Wrapping his arms tighter around her, her legs straddled him and her hands clutched the back of his kutte. She buried her face in his neck and cried freely, tears falling on Happy.

"It's alright Maddie. I got you baby girl."

She clutched him tighter. "Oh god, Happy I'm a horrible person. When Pop called I thought he was calling about Op and when... And when he said Donna's name I was fucking relieved. I was fucking happy it was her. What kind of person is happy their sister-in-law is dead?"

"A person who loves her brother Maddie, nothin wrong with that. Shit baby girl, you been carrying that shit around with you all this time?"

"Yeah." she shuddered, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Stubborn bitch" he chuckled. He gently wiped the hair out of her face and pulled her closer to him.

**Thanks for taking the time to read! As always reviews and comments are always appreciated:)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

She was shocked that it had been Happy to come and give her comfort. Comfort that her mother and father couldn't give, comfort she wouldn't take from Opie. The club's most savage killer was sitting here and holding her while she let the tears that had built up over the last few days free themselves. She had grown up around this club so she knew exactly who and what Happy was. She knew what he did for the club, had seen the tally of tattoos on his body. She bet that of all the people who knew Happy and had seen his personas: killer, unholy one, Son; they would ever think he was capable of this.

Happy had become her Bakersfield watchmen over the last year. When she had told Opie about her job, he had called Happy and asked him to check in on his little sister when he was visiting his Mom, who was in a nursing home near Maddie. The first time Happy had appeared at her front door, she had called Opie demanding to know why the Tacoma killer was at her house. She was pissed at first - she didn't need to be looked after, and it had taken her awhile to get used to this gruff man randomly popping up at her house, usually unannounced. Over the past year, they had struck up some sort of odd friendship though. Now when she came home to see his bike in her driveway she was excited for a night of pizza, beer and UFC fights. He had now earned his own key to her place.

With Happy, she was able to share things that she didn't dare with anyone else, mostly her fears. While he didn't participate much in the conversations, when he did chime in it was usually sound advice. He didn't hold anything back from her and he certainly didn't care about the niceties that normal people did when having a conversation. If she was being a bitch, he'd tell her flat out. She knew Mary's belief that Maddie couldn't cook was bullshit. Happy was always hungry and ate everything she put in front of him, glad for a home cooked meal. The spare bedroom at her home mostly belonged to him and he was the only one who slept there. He'd always give her a gruff thanks after breakfast before he hit the road to wherever his work as a Nomad took him.

In exchange for checking in on her and taking care of the manly shit she sometimes needed done around the house, she had started looking in on his mother for him. There were times she would sit by the woman's bedside all afternoon, often reading some sluttly romance novel, because Rosa Lowman's eyesight wasn't what it used to be. If Happy were gone for a long period of time, she'd call him and update him on how Rosa was doing, letting him know if she needed anything.

Maddie sighed against him, taking a deep breath as he relaxed his tight hold on her and slowly rubbed her back. "I'm sorry Hap."

He gently nudged her with his shoulder, causing her to look up at him. "What the fuck for?" he rasped.

"For putting all this on you, being all girly and shit. I know you hate that."

"You're alright" he said, his hand coming up to cup the side of her face. His thumb lightly traced the bottom of her lip. Pulling her closer to him, his lips softly grazed hers before sliding his tongue into her mouth. The hand that had been cupping her face slid its way down, his thumb running slowly down her neck until it cupped her braless breast over the soft cotton t-shirt she was wearing. He could feel the faded Samcro insignia under his hand and it had him remembering who he was with. This was Opie's sister; a girl who was an emotional wreck right now, a girl he had been given the duty of looking after, a girl who was turning his brain into mush right now, making the most delicious noise when his other hand grabbed her backside, pulling her closer to him and his erection. He couldn't believe this was the same girl who had stood in her doorway a year ago, pissed when she saw the leather kutte and bike in her drive. She had instantly gotten on the phone to Opie, letting out a string of curse words and pacing back and forth as he calmly sat on her couch. When she had ended the conversation with her brother, she gave him an exasperated look before telling him "You can sleep in the spare room but don't make a fucking mess."

He wanted to chuckle remembering that stubborn bitch, who every time he showed up, put Opie through the same bullshit call that always ended up with him staying at her house. After two months of the same shit, he'd finally had enough. He had grabbed the phone out of her hand before she could call Opie and lay into him, throwing the phone across the room and shattering it. "Stop being such a cunt, you should be glad your brother gives a shit about you" he'd growled, towering over her. That conversation, along with a new cell phone had stopped the calls to Opie when he'd show up. That led to them tolerating each other, then to them enjoying each other's company and eventually a smile when she'd come home and find him sitting on her couch.

He pulled back from her, looking into her deep green eyes for any sign that she wanted to stop. She let out a whimper at losing contact with him. That was all the confirmation he needed before he took her in his arms, rolling her over so she was lying on the bed underneath him. He gave her a quick kiss before standing up and removing his kutte and his boots but leaving his jeans and t-shirt on. He grabbed her by her ankles, slowly sliding his hands up her legs, stopping short of where she really wanted his hands to be. Looking into her upturned face, he reached his hand out and stroked her cheek before leaning in and capturing her lips in his. Wanting to take things slow, not wanting to push her any further than she wanted and kind of hating himself for even caring about this girl. He knew when he had seen her earlier today that she was hurting bad. She wasn't just some croweater, she was family. Daughter of a first nine member and brother to another, both of which would have his ass if they knew what he was doing with her. His hand traveled up her body, pushing the faded Samcro shirt up. Removing his lips from hers, he went to her breast, taking it slowly in his mouth and flicking her nipple with his tongue. She arched against him, hands going down his body, grabbing the hem in her hands and wrenching it up to his shoulders. He removed himself from her breast to allow her to pull his shirt free and help her out of her shirt as well before going back to her breast. With one hand he held himself up while the other slid down, rubbing her on the outside of her blue cotton panties and loving the wetness that was seeping through the material. Every movement he made was slow, calculated and deliberate. This wasn't about him taking what he wanted, this was about him giving her what she needed right now.

When he still hadn't picked up the pace, her hands went straight for his belt buckle, but he was quicker than her. Rising up on his knees, he grabbed her hands, letting her know who was in control of this. He heard her frustrated moan. "Hap, what're you doing?"

"Being sweet, shut up." He removed his belt, letting his jeans and boxers fall to the ground with a thump. He grabbed her underwear and pulled them off slowly, his eyes never leaving hers. She bit her bottom lip in anticipation as he crawled back up to her. He kissed her sweetly as her legs spread for him and he slid in to her. He leaned down, resting on his forearms so that her breasts were pressed against his muscular chest. He continued kissing her and slowly rolling his hips until she broke the kiss gasping against him, "I'm going to come."

"Shit Maddie already?" The feel of her little hands holding on to him, of her warm body moving in time with him, the cute little gasps she was making were driving him crazy. He didn't want to admit he was just as close, her tightness doing him in with every thrust. When he felt her start to pulse around him, he held back the need to slam into her and continued his slow fluid movements until she was done. Then he let himself go, giving a gruff moan and shuddering against her and still feeling the aftershocks of her orgasm as he came. He pulled out from her, hovering over her. Seeing the satisfied little smile on her lips, he leaned in to give her a small kiss before asking the obvious "You good?"

"Oh, yes" she sighed. "You should do that more often, you know the sweet part. You're good at it."

"Good to know" he smirked down at her. "Now you need to get some sleep, Op said you haven't been sleepin good."

"Can we not talk about my brother right now? Kinda ruins the sex high I've got going on."

"Alright, come here then" he said, rolling over onto his side.

"You're going to stay?" she asked as his arms pulled her closer to him.

"Yeah, for a while." His arm snaked under her top arm and up to her collarbone where she grabbed his hand in hers and snuggled herself closer to him. He propped himself up with his other arm, looking down at her as she finally closed her eyes and he felt her drift off. He stayed like that watching over her until the pre-dawn light had begun to slip in through the window. He hated to leave her but also knew he had to sneak back out of here before the rest of the Winston clan woke up. There would be a shit storm to face if he was caught with Maddie, who was either a figurative or literal daughter, sister, or niece to everyone in the club. Tig had always made comments about her here and there but they were in the pervy uncle type of way. Even _he _would probably be disgusted that Happy had breached that boundary. He leaned in, kissing her shoulder.

"Maddie?"

"Hmmm?" she mumbled, still largely asleep.

Happy kissed her shoulder again. "Baby girl I gotta go."

"Hmmm, okay" came her sleepy voice, but instead of releasing his hand, she grabbed it tighter and rolled over slightly, taking his arm with her.

"That means you gotta let go of me" he whispered, giving her another kiss on the shoulder.

She rolled back over letting go of his hand ."Sorry."

He pulled his hand up cupping her face, pulling her in for real kiss. "Go back to sleep" he said, rolling out of bed then watching her snuggle back under the covers.

She heard the jingle of his wallet chain as he got dressed, felt when he sat back down of the bed to put his boots back on and the walk towards the door. Opening her eyes, she called out before he opened the door. "Hap?"

"Yeah baby?" His hand dropped from the doorknob and he walked over to her side of the bed.

"Thank you. For last night, I needed it."

He leaned over giving her one more kiss. "Only for you baby girl. Go back to sleep. Call me if you need something."

"Okay."

"I mean it Maddie, don't let shit stew, you call me."

"I will."

After he had left, shutting the door behind him, she sighed closing her eyes and thinking of him. The Happy that had been with her last night wasn't the Happy she had known this last year. She didn't know he was even capable of that tenderness last night. He had been an asshole from the first day he showed up at her place. She had gotten used to his gruffness but the sweetness she didn't really know what to do with. It had never been like that with him. Since the start of whatever they were, he'd always been rough, forceful, no caresses or soft touches. The first time they'd slept together six months ago had been dirty and rough as he'd fucked her right in her kitchen, yanking her hair and slamming into her. A smile crossed her face, remembering that night that had changed their growing friendship.

**Thanks all for reading and reviewing glad you are liking it so far.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

She pulled up in her driveway, cursing at the sight of his bike. She just wanted to be alone - get drunk and forget this night ever happened. She knew that the door would be unlocked so she didn't bother to use her key. The neighborhood knew him, knew enough not to ever fuck with him. Happy had grown up not far from here and his aunt still lived two blocks over. It was a decent neighborhood but illegal activity often still lurked in the streets. She knew that was why Opie had tasked him with her. If everyone knew she had Happy as her pitbull nobody would fuck with her either because they knew that if they did, they wouldn't be spared his wrath.

Maddie walked into her house to find Happy laid out on her couch, his feet on her coffee table with pizza and beer in hand. She marched past him, shooting him a glare. "Make yourself at home Hap, don't mind me" she said over her shoulder as she headed into the kitchen. Dropping her purse on the kitchen table, she made a beeline for the bottle of tequila and two shot glasses then headed back into the living room. Happy shot her a confused look. "What the fuck is your problem?" he asked.

"Nothing, just wanted to make sure it was still my name on the mortgage." She set the bottle and the glasses down on the table, poured two shots then took a seat on the floor across from him.

"It's your pop's name on the fucking mortgage so watch your fuckin mouth. What the fuck is wrong with you?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as she reached out to hand him a shot.

"Shitty night" she said brusquely, as if trying to dismiss the whole evening. "Come on Hap, you going to make me drink alone? Nothing sadder than a girl getting drunk by herself" she said when he still hadn't taken the shot from her.

Noticing the sad hint in her voice, he grabbed the shot, pouring the liquor down his throat before she had even taken hers. He slammed the glass back down and scooted it towards her, indicating to pour him another. She finished her shot, wincing as the clear liquid burned her throat then poured Happy another. "Why the fuck you all dressed up and home by nine?" he asked, noticing the black heels she had slipped off and her outfit: short black skirt and tight button up red top with a small black belt that emphasised her slender waist.

She swallowed the second shot in time with him. "I was on a date."

"The suit?" Happy had met Jared the last time he came into town when he walked in on them almost naked on the couch. When Maddie had introduced the two, Happy hadn't bothered acknowledging him, opting instead to stare him down until the poor guy nearly peed his pants and scurried away.

"Yeah, the suit."

Happy smirked. "What, he too much of a pussy to walk you to the door?"

She downed the third shot. "No he didn't come home with me." The liquid was starting to make her head a little fuzzy but she poured another for them both, drinking hers and starting on her fifth before Happy had the chance to finish his. "Fucker dumped me. Apparently I'm emotionally unavailable." She got up from the floor, grabbed the bottle and the shot glasses and headed to the kitchen.

Uncharacteristically curious, Happy followed her into the kitchen. Grabbing a beer from the fridge he turned so that he was standing in front of her, beer in hand.

"What the fuck does that mean?"

"Means I don't open up myself to him. He wanted to meet my family and shit, be a part of my life."

"That's stupid, he should just be happy he's gettin to fuck you."

Maddie pulled herself up onto the kitchen counter."Doesn't really matter, like I could ever bring him home! Can you imagine the rash of shit he'd get from Pop and Opie, not to mention the rest of the guys? He'd have split after that anyway, so better for him to end it now."

"Maybe you should stop dating pussies in suits" Happy reasoned.

"Yeah and who should I date huh? Some guy all covered in leather and tattoos?" Maddie reached out and took a sip of his beer. She handed it back to him as he stepped even closer to her, almost resting himself between her parted legs.

"That'd be a start, those men you've been with don't know shit about what you want or need."

She leaned a fraction closer and raised an eyebrow. She was enjoying her buzz and the flirtatiousness she had going on with Happy, they'd done this banter back and forth before.

"And what is it that I want and need, Hap?"

"A good fuck." Happy was nothing if not blunt.

She gave a chuckle. "What, you think I've never had a good fuck?"

He stepped right in between her legs, setting his beer down next to her. "Maybe, but you ain't been fucked right."

God that voice of his was sexy, Maddie thought, not for the first time. "Yeah and who's going to do it, you?" she asked, looking up at him so that his lips were now almost touching hers.

"I should. Teach you what a real man can do."

"Jesus Christ Hap, you sure are full of yourself!" She pulled back away from him slightly and laughed but stopped when she saw he wasn't laughing back. Normally this was where the flirtatious banter would end, then they'd watch some TV and go to their respective rooms for the night.

It was that laugh that had him this time, her perfectly full lips and her deep green eyes drawing him in, almost hypnotizing him. When she looked back into his black eyes, she understood the seriousness of this situation. She should just lower her head, break the stare with him and go back to her room; take a cold shower and hop into bed - he'd be gone in the morning. Before she could finalize that decision, his lips were on hers and his rough biker hands around her waist, pulling her closer to him. His tongue entered her mouth with the same aggressive manner his hands were now tugging at her belt, fumbling with the small clasp. She broke the kiss and looked into his eyes. Pushing his hands away, she undid the belt herself, giving him the cue that she was good with whatever he wanted to do. However she wasn't expecting it when he reached for her shirt and ripped it open, buttons pinging on the tile floor. His lips were crashing down on hers before she could breathe. His hand went to her breasts, pulling down the the fabric of her bra and pinching her nipple between his calloused fingers. She moaned at his touch, not sure what to do with her hands which remained at her side. His hands traveled down to her thighs. Sliding her skirt up, he grabbed her panties and yanked them down. Breaking the kiss to remove them, he let them drop to the floor. He knew she was wet from the feel of her underwear in his hands. Looking up at her flushed face and her eyes sparkling with excitement, her exposed breasts were heaving as she gasped for air, she was fucking beautiful.

His hands went to his back pocket and fished out a condom before he unfastened his belt and unzipped his pants, pushing them and his boxers down enough to free his rock hard length. She watched with lips parted, as he tore the condom open and rolled it on. He placed his hand on her thighs and ran his hands up until his hands were on her bare ass. As they stared at each other, his last coherent thought before he slammed into her was "this is a very bad idea", which disappeared as he felt her warmth wrapped around him and heard her moan "oh fuck Hap."

Clutching on to the front of his shirt, Maddie pulled him closer, kissing him as he thrust into her again. That thrust earned him another pleasure-filled moan, and then another and another. Sweat was running down his back as he took her mercilessly, his fingers digging into her ass cheeks. She rested her head on his shoulder as she clung on to him, still trying to keep up with his pace. She wrapped her legs around him and arched her back, allowing him to attach his mouth to her breast, biting down on her nipple.

As her body went rigid with her impending orgasm, she screamed his name. Hearing her scream, Happy bit her nipple again, holding it between his teeth and flicking it with his tongue. Her moans turned into gasps of pleasure as she rode the wave of her climax. When he felt her body pulse, he came with a gruff moan. Maddie's body went slack and her head fell forward so that her body was leaning against him. "Jesus Hap" she said breathlessly into his neck.

Happy released her ass and ran his hands up her back. "Told you, you ain't been fucked right" he growled into her ear. Pulling away from her slightly, he saw the sheen of sweat glistening on her skin and the huge grin on her face.

They stayed like that, looking at each other as the realization of what had just transpired hit. Happy was the first to move. Pulling out of her, he removed the condom, tossed it in the trash and then pulled his pants back up. Maddie slid down from off the counter and pulled her shirt closed, wrapping her arms around herself to keep the shirt from popping open. Happy was at a loss, he never had to deal with that awkward moment after first time sex. This was the part of the night where he'd normally leave the bitch he'd just fucked, but this wasn't some sweetbutt who expected him to leave, this was Maddie.

"So, are you tired? Do you want to like go to bed or something?" she asked awkwardly, standing in front of him and still holding her shirt closed.

"Yeah, sure." He followed her into her bedroom, following her lead as she disrobed and pulled a t-shirt and new underwear on while he stripped down to his boxers.

She hadn't expected him to follow her in there. She thought he'd go to the spare room but here he was undressing across from her, so she climbed into bed and shut off the lamp as he crawled in next to her. They lay there next to each other awkwardly in the deafening silence of the room until Maddie grabbed his hand and rolled over on her side, taking him with her. She scooted closer to him, pulling his hand up to her chest. If he was going to share her bed, she wasn't going to let him off that easy. She heard him take a breath and she waited for him to say something but he remained quiet, eventually relaxing against her. With his warm body against her and the combination of alcohol and great sex, she fell asleep almost instantly.

Happy waited until he felt her body grow heavy with sleep before he let the panic set in. Suddenly he was looking for ways to remove himself from the situation, willing his phone to ring with a club emergency. He tried to remove his hand from hers but when he moved, she moved - clutching tighter to his hand. He was stuck, he'd wait out the night and in the morning light; he'd get on his bike and leave. Even though he wasn't due in Charming for a few days, he'd come to Bakersfield early to spend some time with his Ma. But he'd fucked that up, he knew before leaving he'd have to have a talk with her. Explain that it had been just sex, no big deal, he sure as fuck wasn't looking for attached pussy or an old lady. He just hoped he didn't hurt her so much that she'd make a phone call to her dad or worse, Opie: they'd have his balls for this one. While he hadn't been told explicitly not to fuck Maddie, it was damn well implied for every member of this club. As he waited for the morning light, he drifted off to sleep.

Maddie awoke the next morning with the feel of Happy still next to her. His hand had moved but was still touching her, resting on her hip. She had actually expected to wake up alone and find him and his bike long gone. She thought about rolling over and waking him up for a repeat of last night but she also didn't want that awkwardness of last night either. She had grown to like the gruff asshole and enjoyed the time when he was here, but now as the morning light crept in, so did the regret. She rolled out of his hold, and headed to the kitchen. Turning on the coffee pot, she started her usual routine of breakfast. She knew he'd wake up when he smelled the coffee. She set the table, placed a stack of pancakes in the middle and poured his coffee in the smiley-faced mug she had bought him. When she had showed it to him, he had smirked at it. She placed the cigarettes and ashtray out, lighting her smoke as he walked to the table. "Mornin" came his customary greeting but instead of sitting down across from her, he grabbed his kutte from the chair, shrugging it on.

"Gotta hit the road."

"You're not staying for breakfast?"

"No time"

He hated the rejected look on her face, but he couldn't have her thinking there was something between them now. "Listen about last night..." Maddie held her hand up to cut him off. "Hap, you don't have to say it, it was just sex. I'm not going to go all girly on you and think I'm your old lady or anything. It was good, well more than good, and I'd like to do it again."

He picked up the cup of coffee and took a sip. "That's a bad idea Maddie, if your Pop or Opie found out, they'd have my balls."

"And you think I'm going to tell them? Fuck no! They'd have my ass as well, messing around with a member. Hap I don't want this to change things between us, I don't want you running out of here because you think I want something from you."

"You sure Maddie? Cause I don't do girlfriends or old ladies. I ain't ever gonna be the guy to put a crow on you."

She smiled at him "I'm sure, remember I'm emotionally unavailable." She gave him a sexy grin. "Stay, have some breakfast, and I might just let you fuck me on this table before you go"

He took off his kutte, sat down and grabbed a pancake. "There's gonna be a lot more than just fucking on this table. I don't gotta leave for a few more days."

"Asshole," she smirked at him "you were going to cut out on me early? How many times did you try and escape before I woke up?"

Happy chuckled. "Like a hundred, but you had me in some sort of chick death grip."

"Thanks for staying, I slept really well."

"Me too, once I gave in - never slept next to a girl before."

"Well I'll take that as a compliment then."

**There is the back story of how Happy and Maddie hooked up the first time hope you liked it.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Maddie was still lost in her dream world of her and Happy's start when her mother's shrill voice interrupted her pleasure-filled flashback. "Madelynn Winston you get your ass up right now!"

"Alright Ma!" she yelled, getting up and heading for the shower. She dressed in dark blue jeans and a black cotton t-shirt covered in white embroidered lace. Pulling her straight, blow-dried hair into a ponytail and grabbing her flat, black Toms she walked out of Opie's bedroom and into the scrutiny of her mother.

"Madelynn, you could at least wear something nice."

"Jesus Ma, we're going to a funeral home. I don't think the dead are going to give a shit what I'm wearing."

"This is important, show a little respect for your brother."

Maddie sighed. "Do you want me to change?"

"No we're already running late. What I want Madelynn is for you to take some initiative in your life."

Maddie sighed again and followed her mother, getting a sympathetic look from Opie as she walked out the door. She slumped into her mother's Buick, it was going to be one of those days. She could feel last night's bliss fading as her mother pulled away from the house.

They walked in to Skeeter's mortuary and were greeted by Skeeter himself who was in a suit and tie instead of his usual black rubber apron. They were taken into a room lined with caskets that looked like some sort of gothic showroom. Mary and Skeeter began discussing colors, finishes, and comfort levels casually - as if purchasing a car. Maddie stood beside them, absentmindedly nodding and following her mother's lead. She really wanted to bolt out the door. This whole process made Donna's death all the more real. Spending the last few days with Opie and the kids had felt like it was just another visit and Donna had been out of town, but looking at the caskets the reality that was setting in had her feeling dizzy and unable to breathe - as if she was trapped in one of these pine boxes.

"What do you think Madelynn?" Her mother's question broke through her panic attack. "Do you think the rose one? Donna always liked roses, couldn't ever get them to grow but she liked them."

"Sure, I guess" Maddie replied and turned the price tag over in her hand. "Ten thousand dollars! Jesus Christ Skeeter, price gouge much?"

"Well if you're looking for something more cost effective, we have the standard oak that runs from three to six thousand."

"No, we'll go with the rose. It'll go nice with her blue dress. Madelynn, you did remember the dress didn't you?"

"What dress?"

"Donna's blue dress. I told you last night to get it out if the closet. Really, why can't you do one simple thing? Your father asks you to come down here and help your brother out, and you spend the last few days doing absolutely nothing. And now I have to get the dress myself and come back here later."

Maddie had finally reached the limit of her tolerance threshold and lashed out. "What the fuck does it matter what she wears or what kind of wood she's buried in? She's fucking dead Ma, she doesn't fucking care, because she's dead! Some asshole shot her in the back of the head and blew her brains out everywhere. We're having a closed casket for Christ's sake so people don't have to look at the bullet holes. She could be naked, no one's gonna know if she's wearing a goddamn blue dress or not. And why do you even care? You fought with her the last time you saw her. She called me afterward, told me everything. How you thought she was a shitty mom for sticking by Opie's side. What'd you want her to do Ma, leave like you did? Leave Kenny here with Op and take Ellie with her? Spend the rest of her life trying to make Ellie into something she's not and berate her at every turn? You wanted her to turn into to _you_. It's not enough I get shit from Pop because I'm not like him, but then I have to get shit from you because I am! 'Madelynn sit up straight, Madelynn when are you going to grow up, Madelynn when are going to get married, Madelynn when are you going to have kids, when are going to take things seriously, Madelynn you're just like your father.' So if you give a fuck what she's wearing when she's put in the ground, then get the damn blue dress yourself, because I don't give a shit."

"Madelynn Winston I did not raise you to talk to me like that. You go wait by the car right now."

"Gladly!" she yelled back. She stormed back outside into the parking lot and fished out her pack of smokes. She lit one, trying to slow her breathing down and keep the tears contained. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out her phone.

Happy dropped the tool that was in his hand and fished his phone out of his pocket. Seeing her name come up, he answered immediately. "Yeah?"

"Hey Hap, you busy?"

Looking down at the car that was in pieces in front of him, he answered "Nah." He could hear the high pitch in her voice, the same as the one last night just before she had finally given in and cried her heart out.

"Can you come get me?"

"You at Op's?"

"No, Skeeter's."

"I'll be right there baby girl, hold on." He closed his phone and looked at the prospect. "Hey, asshole put this piece of shit back together."

"Where are you going?"

"None of your goddamn business."

She had just finished her cigarette when she heard his bike coming down the street, tossing the butt to the ground as he pulled up. Not waiting for him to kill the engine, she went to his bike and took his offered hand to help her climb on the back. Turning his face to the he asked "Where to?"

"Anywhere, just get me the fuck away from this place." She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her turned head on his back as he took off out of Skeeter's mortuary. She held onto him as they drove through Charming, not out of safety but the comfort that being this close to him provided. She had spent her life growing up on the back of a bike. She had been on the back of Piney's bike from the time her little feet could hit the pegs, and then with Opie when he'd gotten his first bike. Over her lifetime she had probably ridden behind every member of Samcro. Her favorite though was Happy. He drove the same whether she was on the back or not: didn't take it slow around corners, didn't obey the speed limit either, he would really open the bike up and let her feel the weightlessness and the freedom of the bike that the guys were always talking about. Happy didn't treat her like she was some breakable object. He didn't make her wear a helmet either, he'd always offer one and most of the time she'd take it from him. But not today, today she needed the wind in her hair and the fresh California air all around her.

He knew what Maddie needed when she called, an escape from the shit hitting the fan. He also a knew her holding onto him had nothing to do with fear that he'd roll them or she'd fall off. She needed comfort from him, to feel him with her and know that she wasn't alone. He'd spent the last year getting to know the woman on the back of his bike. How much she hated still feeling like a child when she came to Charming, hated her overbearing mother, hated that her father always passed her over. He had grown to know her moods just by the tells she had and by looking at the change in her eyes. If she was pissed she'd have this little scrunched up look and her eyes turned deeper green so that they were almost black. If she was sad her eyes would go glossy although she never shed tears because she didn't like the weakness it showed. If she was happy her eyes were a clear light green and her full lips broke out into a smile. If she was horny she'd give him this little smirk although usually she was on him the second he would walk in her door.

He felt her start to relax once they had crossed the 'you are now leaving Charming' sign, as if that sign meant everything was going to be alright now, that Donna wasn't still dead. If he took her all the way back to Bakersfield right now she wouldn't protest. She finally released him completely when they were on a little country road miles away from Charming. He couldn't see her but he knew she was leaning back, creating a small arch in her back. He loved when she did this because he could feel just her breasts pressed against his back. She closed her eyes and opened her arms as if she was flying. He felt her take a deep breath and could picture the smile forming on her lips, wisps of her red hair coming free in the wind.

When he slowed down to take a turn, she put her arms back around his waist and rested her head on his shoulder. Peeking up over him, she kissed his neck when she saw where they were headed. He pulled up to the small cabin hidden among the trees and killed the engine. Maddie got off the bike first and ran up the porch steps, turning around and waiting for him.

"Thanks Hap, I love this place."

"Yeah you talk about it all the damn time."

"Aww, Happy you do listen when I talk" she winked at him. She bent over and took the key that was always hidden under the mat. Opening the door and walking in felt like she was pulled back into her childhood, when the Winston's were still a family. Piney had bought this place when Maddie was five and they had spent every summer there as kids. Piney would join them for a week or two then he'd only be up on the weekends. On the holiday weekends, the entire club would come up for a BBQ.

The Teller boys and Gemma were also a staple of the summers at the cabin, back when Thomas was alive. The kids would spend all day at the creek nearby, Opie and Jax catching snakes and chasing her and Thomas with them. When Piney and John would come up, they'd take the kids fishing. Then all shit broke loose when the war started with the Mayans. The last summer she had spent up here, they had been taken out of Charming for safety while the bullets were flying. Then suddenly Mary packed them both up and Charming and this cabin were no longer home. Thomas died, John died, Gemma married Clay, everything she had known for twelve years was gone. But this place would always be a memory of an easier and simpler time.

"You wanna talk about what happened at Skeeter's?"

"Nope" she said, turning around to face him as he shut the door. She walked toward him "Thank you Happy, for last night. I really needed that, I needed that shoulder to cry on." She put her arms on his shoulders "But right now I need something normal in my life, what I need is to just be us. I liked the sweet stuff, don't get me wrong, but I need you to just be with me like it usually is. I just need normal Happy."

Happy grinned. "Shit baby girl, if I'm what's normal in your life you're more fucked up than I thought." Grabbing her waist, he pulled her to him. His lips hovered above hers so that they were close enough to kiss but remained separated.

"Hap, you know what I mean."

"I know Maddie you want it rough." She gave him a nod and he crashed his lips down on hers as he pushed them both toward the first open bedroom. Feverishly, he grabbed the hem of her shirt and wrenched it over her head while shrugging out of his Kutte. He pulled his own shirt off before going for the button and zipper on her jeans as she toed off her shoes. She sat on the bed, allowing him the pull her jeans all the way off. Propping herself up on her knees, she ran her fingers down his bare back as he sat down to unlace his boots. She kissed the reaper tattoo on the middle of his back before going for his neck. As he removed the second boot she waited in anticipation for him to pounce on her. He was just tugging at his belt when his phone rang.

"Please don't answer it" she whined against his ear.

He turned his head to the side, giving her a quick kiss as he pulled the phone from his pocket. "I ain't gonna leave you hangin baby girl, but you know I have to take this." He kissed her once more before answering.

Sitting back on the bed, Maddie exhaled loudly. She hated that damn phone because a call from it usually meant he had to leave. She'd gotten used to it in Bakersfield. When he'd take a call it usually ended with him putting on his kutte, giving her a kiss and walking out the door, and she wouldn't see him until the next time he'd breeze through her door. She knew she could always call him but didn't want to bother him with the complexities of being a girl, even though she just sometimes wanted to hear his voice if he had disappeared for a long time.

Getting off the bed and partially listening to his conversation, she knew it was Juice and something about a witness. She stood in front of him, unclasped her bra and let it fall to the floor. Tugging at the band of her panties, she pushed them down, stepped out of them and moved closer to him. She gave him a smirk but received no response from him so she leaned down and held the edge of his belt. He didn't make a move to stop her but his eyes were now trained on her as he continued his conversation. She pulled his belt free and dropped it to the floor. As she went for the button on his dark baggy jeans, his free hand shot out, grabbed her wrist and yanked her forward so she was standing between his legs. Releasing her wrist, he put his hand around her waist, traveling down over her bare backside. Pulling her closer to him, he pulled her up into his lap so she was straddling him. Moving the phone slightly so that it was still connected to his ear, he put his hand behind her neck and pulled her lips to his - sucking in her bottom lip and biting.

He ran his hand down the front of her body in between her thighs, plunging his fingers into her waiting open legs. Maddie let out a moan which gained a stern look from Happy as he responded into the phone with "None of your fuckin business retard."

Maddie wrapped her arms around his shoulders and dropped her head so that her mouth was on his neck as a buffer to silence her moans. As he continued working her over with his fingers, he ended the phone call with an abrupt "I'll be there." Snapping his phone closed and tossing it to the floor, he removed his fingers from Maddie causing her to lift her head and gasp in frustration at the sudden loss of contact from him. "They coulda fuckin heard you Maddie" he said with a scolding look that vanished when she smirked at him and started kissing him. That's all he needed for Juice to go around blabbing that he was fucking some chick when he called him. When he'd dropped her off later, it wouldn't be too hard to figure out what chick he'd been fucking. He should have never started this shit with her, should've ended it after the first time. But every time he was with her, all he could think about was her milky white thighs, her soft breasts, the feel of being inside her, those damn green eyes, and the wonderful noises she'd make. With her it wasn't fake, she didn't hold back with him. The croweaters, having grown accustomed to what he liked, made all the right noises but nothing with them was genuine.

"I'm sorry Hap, I just can't help myself with you, you feel so fucking good" Maddie panted out in between kisses.

He picked her up in his arms, dropping her on the bed as he removed his pants. She scooted back on the bed, leaving her legs propped open for him. Crawling up her body, he kissed and bit her along the way until he slammed into her, watching her eyes roll back when she felt him enter her. A pleasure filled gasp escaped her lips with each violent thrust, her nails raking down his back. This was the Happy that she'd grown fond of, the one who could control her body and make her feel things she didn't think were possible. Was she in love with him? No but there was a part of her that needed and craved him. He had become her solid ground, the person she would turn to when things were getting out of control. The only one she'd open up to tell all her dark dirty secrets to, this man above her wouldn't pass judgment on her for things she had done and not done in her life. He didn't care if she was assistant editor or assistant to the editor at Randall Publishing, or that she had started out in college wanting to write and had so far failed in that attempt so that now she was reading other people's work instead of working on her own. He didn't care that every relationship she had only lasted a few months before the guy realized she was emotionally fucked up. He took her for who she was and still came back for more. Happy Lowman was the longest ongoing relationship she had ever had.

She screamed out his name as she came against him while he was biting into her shoulder. Clutching his back, her nails drew blood when he came with her. He leaned down and kissed her once more before pulling out of her and getting off the bed to get his clothes. "I should get you back, got a job tonight."

She stretched out on the bed. "God I wish we were in Bakersfield, then we could just order pizza have some beer, fuck again and then go to sleep."

He turned to her, placing his hand under her chin and forcing her to look up at him "Chin up baby girl, you'll get through this and then we'll get you back home. No more Charming bullshit."

On the ride back to Charming she held onto him the whole way, not wanting to lose the feeling she had; the relief and the relaxed calm state that she knew would end the second she returned to Opie's house. When they pulled up, she sighed and got off Happy's bike. Seeing her father's bike parked out front, she was tempted to beg him to just take her back to Bakersfield.

"Thanks Hap" she called out to him as she walked up the drive. He gave her a nod and took off down the street towards whatever criminal activity he had planned earlier with Juice.

The minute she set foot in the door, the yelling commenced with Piney laying into her at once. "Where the hell have you been?"

"I just needed some time."

"Yeah, so you leave your mother at the funeral home, and us wondering what happened to you? Who the fuck brought you home?"

"Happy, I called him."

"So you call him but you don't call your brother or you mother? Don't think that you're too old for me to take you across my knee Madelynn. Your family needed you today and you bailed. You need to grow up, everything in the world does not revolve around you so quit being an asshole."

"Sorry Pop."

"Don't sorry Pop me. You apologize to your Ma right now."

"Sorry Ma, I should have told you I was leaving."

"Jesus girl that's not the point. You were supposed to help your mother out. It's not just you leaving, it's you being a burden on her, on me, and Opie."

"Pop, that's enough" said Opie, coming to her rescue. "She's fine, she shouldn't even be doing this shit, it should be me planning the funeral."

"No son, it's not on you, your family should be helpin out." He glared in Maddie's direction. "Now set the table if you think you can manage to not fuck that up today."

Happy retuned to the clubhouse once Jax had thrown him out of the safe house. He hadn't really wanted to kill that girl but he also knew he would have, not only to protect the club but also so Maddie wouldn't have to deal with her brother going to jail on top of everything. When he walked in the door it was his turn to face Piney's wrath. "Hey asshole, next time you take off with my daughter without my permission I'm going to cave your skull in."

"Well maybe if you took the time to talk to your daughter, she wouldn't be callin me."

Piney got off his stool and stepped up to Happy. "What did you just say?"

Happy lifted his chin and clenched his jaw. "You heard me old man. If you took care of your shit, I wouldn't have to."

"What the fuck do you know about my daughter?"

"A a hell of a lot more than you." His voice was calm and low but there was no way Happy was backing down from this. He'd hate to hit the old man but he'd love to knock some sense into him.

Clay came out of church and stepped in between the two. "Enough! Piney go the fuck home, you're drunk."

Piney stepped back, staring Happy down as he walked toward the clubhouse doors.

Happy called out to him. "Piney, you stupid old bastard, she lost someone too, remember that. The pain you're all feeling? She's going through it too. And she's not the tough as nails stubborn bitch you think she is."

"Fuck you asshole" was all the old man said as he left with Juice in tow to give him a ride.

**Thanks for taking the time to read and review! I appreciate all of you fantastic readers. And thanks to poppyandbeeb for all the time spent editing!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Maddie was up early that morning, her hair was pulled back in a respectable bun and she'd put on a somber black skirt, matching black top and black pumps. Her mother had insisted that Ellie wear pantyhose which she had straight up refused. She was waiting in the living room, watching her Mom prep the house for the funeral goers that would arrive after the service. Clearing off space for the casseroles that would arrive from the good people of Charming. She watched as Opie walked out of the bedroom with the kids. He nodded sadly and passed the children off to Maddie with a kiss on the cheek. Grabbing his kutte, he headed out the door saying "I'll see you guys there."

Maddie followed her mother and the kids to the car, choosing to sit in the back between the children and holding them tight to her. Suddenly she could feel the real weight of the loss of Donna. While she had lost a friend, they had lost a mother. She loved these kids, she'd had been there when they were born and had never missed a birthday but she certainly wasn't cut out for the job of being a mother; she drank too much, smoked too much and had sex too much for that title. Who was going to fill this void Donna had left? Her mother was the obvious choice, but staring down at them she couldn't let that happen, let these kids become emotionally unstable, unable to ever really love, someone like her.

They pulled up to the funeral home, where a line of bikes were parked, Samcro had come out in full force today. They parked waiting for the bikes to pull out and then the hearse they would follow. They would go to the cemetery for a graveside service then back to Opie's where her mother would serve sandwiches and sherbet punch while the men snuck off to the clubhouse to get drunk. She would be expected to stay and help her mother, act like a lady, receive condolences when offered, be polite.

She sat in the front row between her mother and Ellie, holding the little girl's hand. Opie sat between the two kids as the pastor mumbled on about this not being the end and God having a plan for Donna. When the services ended, she followed in line with the rest of the mourners while the Sons went back to their bikes. She saw Happy and nodded to him as she stood next to her brother while her mom was yammering on with another lady. She quietly followed Opie to his bike and asked if he was coming back to the house.

"Fuck no, I don't want cold cut sandwiches and punch. Headed back to clubhouse, you wanna come?" he asked, seeing the discomfort on his sister's face. He knew full well she had no desire to spend the afternoon with their mother either.

"God yes."

"Well get on before Ma or Pop see you."

She had just hiked up her skirt enough to climb on behind him when she heard the shout of her mother's voice through the crowd "Madelynn Winston, you get ba..." Her voice was cut off by the sound of Opie's bike. She looked back at her mother, putting her hand to her ear signaling 'what?'. She saw her mother say something back knowing it was another request for her to get her ass back there but instead, she just waved as Opie took off.

Happy had seen Maddie earlier but watching her now, as she stood with her back to him, all he could see was the way her tight skirt clung in all the right places. He was hoping to get her alone later to fuck her while she was in that skirt with her heels on. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Tig clapped him on the back.

"So you got a girl picked out?"

"What the fuck are you talking about now Trager?"

"Funeral fuck. These women all sad and shit they want to know they're still alive, will do just about anything in bed to make sure. Funeral fuck is great."

"I thought you said a kill fuck was the best."

"It is, it goes kill fuck, funeral fuck, angry fuck, and then just your regular old fuck. I got dibs on the cousin over there."

"Ten bucks says she don't let your creepy ass anywhere near her."

"You're on brother" Tig said walking away.

Happy returned to watching Maddie, smiling when he saw her get on the back of Opie's bike, her mom yelling at her as they took off.

When Maddie and Opie pulled up to the clubhouse, their father was standing in the doorway. As they dismounted and walked toward him, she expected Piney to lay into her or tell her to get her ass back and help her mother. "Your Ma is going to have my ass for this" he grumbled, but instead of continuing, he pulled Maddie into a hug. Putting his arm around her, they walked into the clubhouse together. "What the fuck are you wearing?" he asked, looking at her skirt and black suit jacket.

"Ma said I had to look nice."

"Your ma's stupid, and you look like some high priced call girl." Piney led her to a seat at one of the tables and then took a seat next to her with Opie sitting across from her. The prospect came over with three shot glasses and a bottle of tequila. Piney poured three shots. "If you're going to hang with the big boys, you're gonna drink with us too" he said, sliding a shot towards her.

They were five shots in when Happy walked through the door. Maddie's back was to him, she had taken off her jacket and shoes and was just in a skirt and tight black tank top. The Winston tattoo he had done between her shoulder blades was showing. She had come to him five years ago when she was eighteen asking for it. He had asked Piney first before agreeing to do the lettering that looked like the back of a football jersey in all black letters. Although Piney had said he didn't give a fuck Happy and Piney had both known that she'd get a lot of shit from her ma. The fallout from Mary was so huge that Piney had come to him afterwards telling him to never tattoo his daughter again. He could tell Maddie was half in the bag by her laugh, she never would've been that carefree around Piney without a little bit of alcohol. He watched as she took another shot with her brother and father. Juice passed by him and he motioned to the table where the Winstons were sitting while the other Sons were bellied up at the bar. "What's going on there?" he asked.

"Winston tradition, someone dies you get shit hammered. Won't be long before Maddie's out, then Opie, Piney will outlast everyone in here."

Happy took a seat at the bar. Turning around, he watched as Maddie waved the shot that Piney had set in front of her.

"Don't be a pussy Maddie, we drink till one of you two assholes passes out" Piney grunted.

"You should just pass out now Mad."

"Fuck you Op, I ain't no quitter" Maddie said, taking the shot and slamming down the glass.

As the night wore on so did the coherency of the Winston kids. Maddie and Opie had started a round of thumb war and the clubhouse echoed with the sound of Maddie shouting "One, two, three, four let's start a thumb war." The music that normally would have been shaking the walls was turned down for the night so Maddie's infectious laughter filled the clubhouse. "You cheat Op." Maddie wined when Opie had won again.

"How? You can't fucking cheat at thumb war, dumbass."

"You have longer thumbs then me."

"That's not cheating."

"One more time."

"Jesus Christ Maddie, when are you gonna give this up?"

"I'm going to win one of these days."

Opie sighed and started another game with her. Maddie strained against his hold trying to wrench her thumb out of the way of his. As she leaned forward on the edge of her chair, it slipped out from underneath her. Before Opie could catch her, she fell on her ass. Happy almost bolted from his chair to see if she was alright but then he heard her laugh coming from where she was splayed out on the floor. Opie got up and stood over her. "I think it's time for bed"

"But I didn't pass out Op" she said proudly, looking up at him as he leaned over and reached for her hands to pull her up.

Opie chuckled. "Tomorrow morning you'll wish you had passed out about an hour ago. Come on up we go." Pulling her up and throwing her over his shoulder, he stooped down to grab her shoes and jacket then carried her back to one of the empty dorm rooms. He got her settled into bed, watching as she rolled over and snuggled under the covers. "You know why I love you Maddie?"

"Because I let you win at thumb war" she mumbled.

He let out a laugh, they had played this little 'why I love you' game since Maddie could talk. He'd always ask the question and she'd come back with some ridiculous answer, then he'd tell her why.

"Nope, because you still like me even when I don't like myself."

"Love you Op."

"Love you too, get some sleep Maddie. I'll have coffee waiting for you in the morning."

"Oh, coffee now I really love you."

Opie returned to the bar and took a seat next to Happy. "Got her all settled, sleeping like a baby" he said, lighting up a smoke and getting no verbal response from Happy, which wasn't unusual. "I'm only saying that because you looked kinda worried when she fell." Happy still didn't respond but at least he turned toward him acknowledging that he knew Opie was talking to him. "Hap I really appreciate you looking in on Maddie, knowing she's safe means a lot..."

"Listen brother," Happy interrupted, finally joining in the conversation. "I don't wanna step on your toes, but you tasked me with job to watch out for your family. I don't take that lightly and it don't end just cause we're in Charming."

"Hap, man that ain't what I'm sayin brother" Opie said, clapping him in the back. "I appreciate the hell out of it. She needed something, something I couldn't give her. You get her to talk to you?"

"A little, she's hurtin with Donna's death but she felt worse about it cause she was relieved when Piney said it wasn't you."

"Shit, you tell her she's being stupid?"

"Yeah."

"She tell you what happened between her and the guy she was seeing?"

"Fucking pussy, dumped her over some emotional bullshit."

Opie shook his head and gave a harsh chuckle. "That's my Maddie, she's got some serious commitment and abandonment issues. Folks did a real number on her. I think you're good for her. You don't talk, she doesn't talk." Happy nodded, not wanting to share with Opie that Maddie pretty much told him everything. She was like an open book, sometimes he'd have to pry her open a bit but she always opened up.

Opie sighed and rubbed his beard. "She sure as shit don't talk to me. I think she's still mad at me for leaving. When my ma left Pop she took both of us but I ran away in the middle of the night back to Pop. Maddie called me crying the next day to come back, to not leave her alone with Ma, but I just couldn't. Thanks Hap for picking her up, treating her like family." Clapping him again on the back, Opie returned to the table with Piney.

Opie's small speech left Happy feeling like shit. He obviously couldn't tell Opie that the conversation he had with Maddie was when he snuck into his house and then fucked his sister in his own bed. Or that he'd fucked her at the family cabin, or that he'd been thinking about fucking her all day. He would have had she not drunk herself into a stupor. Hell he'd probably fuck her tomorrow because he, Happy Lowman, was a man born with no morals; or maybe he was because he'd feel bad about it but still do the same thing again.

Maddie woke up with the morning light blinding her. Head pounding, she went into the bathroom and found some Tylenol or at least what looked like Tylenol. Rinsing her mouth out taking, she took a cool drink of water from the faucet, her mouth felt like the Sahara. Walking down the hallway towards the smell of coffee, Maddie grabbed a mug and poured herself a cup. Clutching it like a life preserver, she walked outside and found Opie already on the bench enjoying the mid-morning Charming air.

"Hey, how you feeling?" he asked as she took a seat next to him and lit a smoke.

"Like shit, so basically as good as you look."

"Asshole" he said, back bumping her shoulder against his. They sat in a familial silence, chain smoking until Opie broke the silence. "How come you called Hap to come get you?"

"Needed to get the fuck away from Ma."

"I know that. Heard about your tantrum, but why did you call Hap and not me?"

"You have enough shit in your plate, you don't need to add my baggage to that."

"Maddie, I'm your brother and I'm here for you. You can talk to me."

"I know that."

"Do you?"

"Of course Op, I called Happy because you had the kids to take care of. They needed you more than me."

"Fuck Mad, I don't know how I'm going to go home and face all this shit. Be the father they need right now, they need someone who's not all fucked up. Hell I don't even know what time school starts or let's out, Donna did all that shit. I just keep thinking if I could get my mind right, I could do it."

"Then get your mind right."

"I need distance from this to do that. I'm thinking of a road trip - take some time, just me. Get shit straight in my head. What do you think?"

"I think the kids need you, but they need you to be whole for them, so if you think that's going to do it then you should."

"Think you can hang out for a while?"

"I told you I was here as long as you needed me."

"Thanks Maddie. What do you say we get out of here go see if Ma made breakfast."

"No way, you're not dragging me into your shit. I'm going to sit right here finish this cigarette and go have a shower. I don't want to be anywhere near you when you tell Ma you're leaving. She'll turn that shit around on me somehow."

"How you going to get home then?"

"I'll ask one of the guys around here to give me a lift later. After world war three at your place has ended."

"You're not going to come back me up?"

"No chance big brother. If it was anyone else yes, but I don't want to face the wrath of Mary."

"Chicken shit" he said, getting up from the bench. "You know why I love you Maddie?"

"Cause I got all the good looks in the family."

"Nope, cause you're a good fucking sister, I couldn't get through this without you. I love you Maddie."

"I love you too Op."

She watched him walk towards his bike then got up from the table and headed back into the dorm room she'd spent the night in. She had grabbed another cup of coffee on her way back and one of Bobby's famous muffins. The Tylenol finally kicked in as she stepped under the warm spray of the shower. She stayed in there until the water had started to turn cold. Stepping out, she grabbed a towel and ran her fingers through her wet hair. Using her finger as a makeshift brush, she squeezed toothpaste on her index finger she to get rid of the morning coffee breath. She slipped back into her black skirt and tank top, and shoes in hand, she padded barefoot back down the hallway to look for someone sober enough to give her a lift home. She was halfway down the hallway when a hand shot out from an open dorm room and yanked her in. She had a scream ready in her throat but stopped herself before it got out when she saw the heavily tattooed arm. The door was quickly slammed and Happy was standing in front of her still in his boxers and white wife beater. She tilted her head as to question him, silently smirking when he whispered huskily in her ear "Panties off, and put the shoes on."

Dropping her shoes to the ground, she shrugged out of her underwear and slid her feet into the black open-toed stiletto pumps. His mouth crashed down on hers as soon as she had completed the task. The force of his kiss pushing her hard into the door as his hands went to her waist. Lifting her up off the ground, her legs went around him and he pushed her further into the door. He held her one handed while he freed himself from his boxers. She was dripping wet with anticipation as he slid into her, his free hand going up to her mouth to stifle the moan he knew she'd let out. She arched her back off the door, meeting his fast-paced hard thrusts, the feel of the material from his boxers creating a whole new sensation in just the right spot. She wanted desperately to kiss him but his hand was still placed over her mouth. She knew he kept it in place because he was well aware of the fact that when she was with him she never could. Maddie may have been quiet in other aspects of her life, but with sex she wasn't; it was one of the long list of reasons he kept coming back to her. He felt her stiffen around him and heard the stifled scream of his name. He released his hand from her mouth and put it back on her waist. He kissed her hard and held on to her while he came.

"God dammit Maddie" he sighed as he let her feet drop back down to the floor.

"What?" she asked, still out of breath.

"You and that god damn skirt."

She smiled up at him. "What, this old thing? It comes from the 'death becomes her' line at Macy's. Give me a ride back to Opie's?"

"Yeah" he grumbled. His need for her was only slightly sedated. If they'd been back in Bakersfield, he would have taken her again but on the bed fully naked so he could see every inch of her.

**Thanks for reading! The conversation with Tig and Happy is in reference to an earlier conversation the two had in my other story Ring Finger in which they discuss the kill fuck. If you haven't already check it out as well it's a Chins story but Happy and Tig make an appearance there. Thanks again for reading and reviewing. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Happy Holiday to all the US readers hope you all had a safe and happy weekend.**

**Chapter 7**

"I feel like I'm fucking sixteen again" Maddie said, sitting next to Happy on the curb outside of Opie's house and smoking. It was going on two o'clock in the morning and her mother and the kids had long since been asleep. Happy had snuck into the bed that had become hers since Opie left, and they had fucked quietly, trying not to wake anybody.

"Won't be long till Opie's back"

"I know but between a full house here and you being nomad, and still seeing your ma, I'm getting tired of trying to find time to be with you. I miss waking up to you, having breakfast and going back to bed. I miss your ma too, how's she doing?"

"Same, docs got her on some new meds but they're costing a fucking fortune. Might have to patch in somewhere and earn some steady money."

"But if you patch in, you won't have the freedom to see your mom. I thought that's why you went nomad in the first place, so you wouldn't be tied down and have to attend church."

"Yeah, but what's the point if I can't pay for her meds?"

"You should come back inside, stay the night" she said, leaning on his shoulder.

"You know I can't. If your ma catches me, she tells your pop. With your ma here and me in Cali for a couple a days, why don't we take off and spend some time in Bakersfield. I'm sure you could use a break."

"I can't. If I go back home, I ain't coming back here, and I promised Op I wouldn't leave the kids alone with my ma for too long. She'll have Kenny thinking he has to be the president and Ellie that she has to get married to a doctor as soon as she turns eighteen and start popping out babies."

"Ellie, Kenny, come on it's time to go!" Maddie shouted from where she was standing in the kitchen, keys in hand.

"You taking them to school?" Mary asked from where she stood doing the breakfast dishes.

"Yep, then I'm headed to the grocery to stock up on stuff to feed the little monsters."

"You never fail to amaze me. First you're up before noon, then you're taking the kids, and going to the store."

"Jesus, you're acting like I never help out. I've been taking care of all the afternoon shit, picking up the kids and helping them with homework."

"I'm not saying you're not helping all, I'm saying you could do a little more."

Maddie left the house thinking that nothing was ever good enough for her mom. It wasn't ever what she had done, it was what she hadn't done. Opie had been gone for a month now but she'd received a phone call telling her that he'd be home by the weekend, then it would be bye bye Charming and welcome home Bakersfield. Back to her life: no more shuffling kids around, dealing with her mother, no more sneaking around with Happy, it'd be back to her simple life.

She dropped the kids off, wishing them a great day and promising she'd be back to pick them up. She headed out of Charming, following the directions she had hastily scribbled down after receiving an early morning call. She drove past the border of Lodi and turned into the parking lot, double-checking the address. Heading up the stairs, she knocked on the door that read 23, smiling when the door opened and she was pulled inside. Laughing as he wrapped her in his arms and began pulling at her clothes, she managed to gasp "in a hurry much?" between kisses.

"How much time you got?" he growled in her ear.

"Just dropped the kids off and don't have to pick them up till three. Ma thinks I'm at the store so I can push that out an hour or two" she said as she walked to the bed, disrobing as she went. He'd been gone for the last week. She hadn't been sure when he'd be back but his call this morning had her jumping out of bed in a rush to get to the hotel room he'd rented outside of town. Here they could enjoy each other's company to the fullest: no being quiet for fear of waking anyone else or quickies in his dorm when no one was looking. Afterwards they sat naked in bed, smoking and sexually sedated.

"You hear from Opie?"

"Yeah he'll be home in a couple of days. My ma is going to stay on for a while, and I'm headed back to Bakersfield. You coming with?"

"Yeah, gotta week. My ma will be glad you're coming back - says I don't do the voices right when I read."

"That's not it, you don't read her secret porn stash to her." Ellie laughed and poked him in the side. "She only has you thinking she wants to hear Little Women." She stubbed out her smoke in the ashtray by the bed.

"Don't tell me that shit." Happy said, wrinkling his brow in disgust.

"Yep," Ellie said, snorting with laughter, "your sweet little ma has a stash of trashy novels." She stopped teasing him momentarily when she saw that Happy wasn't grinning back. Like some kind of jungle cat, he suddenly pounced on her, hovering above.

"You're gonna get it Maddie."

"Oh, yeah what are you going to give me?"

"You got the time baby girl?"

"Yes," she whimpered as he rested himself between her thighs. "Ma thinks I'm an idiot so shopping should take four hours."

"You ain't an idiot Mad, you're fuckin perfect."

Maddie sprinted to the front door, flung it open and ran outside when she heard the bike pull up outside. Running to Opie as he dismounted his bike, he caught her in a bear hug, swinging her around. "Thank god you're back" she sighed as he put her back down.

"You miss me or something Maddie?" he asked.

"No, I'm tired of dealing with your mother on my own."

"She been that bad?"

"Her usual, I think I've had my fill of her till Christmas."

"When you leaving?"

"As soon as I pick up the kids and take them for pizza. Meeting Happy here afterwards he'll follow me back to Bakersfield. You want to come to dinner with us? The kids will be happy to see you."

"Nah, gotta get to the clubhouse, sort shit out there."

He followed her inside to say hello to Mary and then took off on his bike again. "Ma, I'm off to get the kids - taking them to dinner then I'm off" she called out, dropping her packed bags by the front door as she left.

She spent the evening eating pizza and playing skeeball with Ellie and Kenny. As she pulled into the driveway, she had two tired kids in the back and a biker waiting on his bike for her. The house was all-dark as she fished out her keys. Opening the door and flipping on the light, she curiously stepped into the house with the kids and Happy following behind. "Ma?" she called out but got no response. Walking into the darkened kitchen, she flipped on the light, seeing the note on the table she grabbed it and read it.

"Fucking cunt."

"Aunt Maddie you said a bad word" Ellie spoke up from behind her.

"Kids go brush your teeth and hop into bed."

"Fucking cunt left" she said to Happy, showing him the dear John letter her mother had left.

Happy was already on the phone dialling Opie's number. "He ain't answering" he ground out. "Probably still at the clubhouse."

"I gotta go get him. Will you watch the kids?"

"Yeah, but baby girl we got to get on the road soon. Ma's meeting with the doctor in the morning."

"I know, just give me 20 minutes."

Speeding to the clubhouse, she parked out front and walked towards the loud music. She found Opie sitting at the bar with Jax. "She fucking left Op" she said, handing him the note.

"Well not surprised, that's her MO."

"You need to come home, I have to hit the road."

"You're gonna leave still?"

"Opie, I've been here for over a month. I got to get back home."

"Maddie, I need you, you can't bail on me too. I just got back today, give me some time to settle in. Please Mad, the kids and I need you, a week tops. Don't bail on me too."

She hated the desperation in his voice, hated that he thought she was going to run like her mother - even though that's what she wanted to do, but his plea had gotten to her. "Fine, a week" she said the defeat in her voice clear. "Are you coming home?"

"Yeah, of course. I'll be home right after I finish this beer."

She drove back to Opie's house slower, already regretting her decision when she went inside and found Happy sitting on the couch. She looked at her bags that were still by the door, mocking her. Sighing, she sat down next to him her hands running down her face.

"Op coming?"

"No," Maddie said, another sigh escaped her and she shook her head. "He asked me to stay another week."

"Baby girl I have to go, my ma."

"I know, I know." Tears welled in her eyes as she looked over at him.

"Shit, Maddie don't cry, I'll be back."

"I know, but you only have a week and then you're on to Arizona. And who knows when you'll be done there or where Quinn will send you next. I'll still be stuck here in Charming, it's got ahold of me now and isn't going to let to go."

He reached out to her, cupping his hand under her chin. "Chin up Maddie, you'll be here a week then back to Bakersfield. I'll come as soon as I'm done in Arizona. Quinn won't leave me out on the road too long, he knows the deal with my ma."

Happy had been wrong, here it was two weeks later and Opie was no longer coming home, opting for the sanctity of the clubhouse. The kids kept asking when he'd be home again and she had been stuck on kid duty the entire time, waiting patiently for Opie to step up. Meanwhile Happy was still stuck in Arizona. Today was finally the day she was leaving, her bags were packed at the door waiting. Opie was picking up the kids and bringing them home where she would say her goodbyes. At least that was the plan they'd talked about… until her phone rang.

She pulled up to TM, shuffling the kids out of her car she walked them into Gemma's office. Gemma looked up from the stack of invoices. "Hey baby, hi kids."

"Gem can you watch them for a minute? I need to talk to Op."

"Sure" Gemma said, nodding at her sympathetically. She knew Maddie was at the end of her rope with Opie, Maddie had made several phone calls to her looking for him.

She found Opie in the garage. She stood up from the car he was working on when she walked over to him. "Hey Maddie, what are you doing here?"

"Did you forget what day it is Op? Kids half day at school, your were supposed to pick them up."

"Shit, was that today?"

"Yep."

"Where are they?"

"Don't worry I picked them up when the school called, they're in Gemma's office. Jesus Opie, I told you like a hundred times. They were sitting outside of the school - the only kids left, the only kids whose parent forgot about them."

"I'll take them out for ice cream later."

"That's not going to cut it Op, not this time. You need to get your shit together here."

"What do you want from me here Maddie? I'm doing the best I can."

"No you're not, you're not even home half the time. It's been me taking care of them, taking care of the house. You haven't picked up any of the slack except for bringing a pizza home maybe once. I can't do it anymore, it's not about me helping you it's about me replacing you. I'm not their mother and I'm not their father, they need you Opie. I can't stay here anymore, my bags are in my car I'm leaving."

"You're going to fucking leave me Maddie? When I need you the most."

"You don't need me, you're using me to avoid facing reality. Donna's dead Opie and you're going to have to deal with that sometime. Your kids are still here and you're going to have to deal with that now. You're going to have to learn how to be a father to them again, and me staying isn't going to make that happen."

"Fine fucking go then, just like Ma - turn tail and run."

"I not like Ma! I'm not leaving because I can't do it, I'm leaving to give you that push in the right direction."

"You're a real fucking bitch."

"Sorry Opie" Maddie said, walking back towards the office to say her goodbyes to the kids.

"But if you leave Aunt Maddie, who'll take care of us?" Kenny was the first to ask when she had embraced them.

"Your dad will baby."

"But he doesn't know how to"

"Oh, Ellie yes he does, he just doesn't know it yet. You're going to have to help him, both of you. You're going to have to have some patience with him. Aunt Maddie is just a phone call away, and Grandma Gemma is here too." Hugging them one last time, Maddie nodded to Gemma on her way out.

She would never be able to describe the heartache she felt leaving them even though she knew it was the right decision, leaving her brother alone to fend for himself. Not just, because she was desperate to leave but because she knew he needed the sink or swim approach. She also would never be able to describe the feeling of relief and calmness she felt as she passed the 'you are now leaving Charming' sign, flipping it off as she flew by it.

**So Maddie gets her wish and gets out of Charming. Hope you all enjoyed, thanks for all the reviews and follows glad you are liking it so far!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Maddie awoke in her own bed with the sun streaming through the windows and smiled. She had been home for three months now and had loved every minute of it. Happy had resumed his regular routine now that he was back from Arizona, splitting his time between Charming and Bakersfield. He hadn't been to see her for three weeks but he had called, promising he'd be there soon and to let her know that things were going down in Charming. She didn't ask and she didn't want to know, with luck on her side, she was hoping not to see Charming until Thanksgiving or maybe Christmas.

She still hadn't mended things with Opie, he wouldn't answer her calls but the kids would. She talked to them every couple of days. She had learned from them that he was seeing someone named Lyla, and from a phone call, she had learned Lyla was a porn star. Gemma had asked her to come back and as much as she wanted to come rescue her niece and nephew from their father's debauchery, she couldn't. If Opie couldn't see that trying to replace Donna with some chick that made her living sucking dick was not the right choice, he certainly wasn't going to listen to her.

She was working at her kitchen table, nursing a cup of coffee when the sound of a bike made her heart flutter. Smiling, she instinctively smoothed down her yoga pants and t-shirt, trying to make herself look more presentable, which was ridiculous since Happy had made it pretty clear that he liked her best when she was wearing nothing at all. But the smile became a frown when she realized the sound was of two bikes turning on her street. She was almost to the door when it was unlocked and flung open by Happy, followed by Juice walking in behind him.

"Hap?"

"Get your shit, lockdown" was all he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her towards the bedroom.

"What? Wait a minute, lockdown for what?"

Happy threw a warning look at her. "Don't give me shit Maddie, your pop wants you back in Charming." He motioned to her work laptop that was open sitting on the table. "Juice, shut that shit down and get it packed."

"Happy," she protested "just wait a goddamn minute!" but he was already pulling her into her bedroom, dragging her to her closet.

"I said no shit!" he shouted, finally releasing her hand.

"I'm not giving you shit, I just..." She didn't have time to finish her sentence because he lunged at her, pushing her up against the wall and fusing his lips with hers. "Hap?" she questioned, breaking the kiss.

"God dammit Maddie, haven't seen you in three fucking weeks and we're about to be stuck together at the clubhouse crammed full if people. Baby girl I gotta get you out of my system or I'm likely to fuck you right in front of your pop and Opie."

"What about Juice?" she whispered, a small nod had signalled her consent, she was now just fixated on how to do the deed without getting busted.

"Juice?" Happy shouted, waiting for Juice to come to the open bedroom door. "Take the computer out and pack it in your bike, I'm gonna get her all packed up. Meet you outside."

Hearing the front door shut, he turned around to face Maddie who was already pulling her pants off along with her underwear. Taking his cue from her, he undid his pants as she walked toward him, smiling with that half-lopsided smirk she had when she wanted him. He grabbed her, pushing her back up against the wall. Pulling her legs up around him, his hands grabbed her thighs and braced her against the wall. He slammed into her, causing her to gasp and arch her back to meet him. "Shit Maddie," he grunted as his head dropped to her shoulder "sorry baby girl but we gotta be fast."

"Hap, it won't take that long, been three weeks remember" she panted as he thrust into her again. "Hmmm, just keep doing that" she whispered in his ear, her nails scraping down his neck.

Leaving Maddie to finish packing, Happy walked back outside for a smoke. Juice, who was leaning on his bike gave Happy a knowing smile, eyebrows cocked. "Really?"

"Shut the fuck up."

"You know that isn't going to end well right?"

"You just keep your mouth shut or it'll end bad for you."

"I ain't gonna say shit, I don't even want to know about it."

Maddie came out of her house dressed in a pair of blue shorts, white tight tank top and black slip on toms. Her bag slung over her shoulder, she walked to Happy's bike where he was already sitting waiting for her. "Not really bike attire Maddie" he said, handing her a helmet.

"Well don't roll us then or my pop is going to have your ass" she quipped, putting on the helmet and getting on behind him.

"Your pop's gonna have my ass if you keep wearing shit like that."

"What, hadn't had your fill yet?" she said as Juice pulled out in front of them. Her hands ran enticingly down his leather covered chest and down his six pack until he grabbed her hands in his, knowing her destination.

"What, that little quicky in there? Not even close. When this shit's all done in Charming, I'm spending a week here in bed with you, get a real feel of you."

"I say we just stay here. Fuck Charming, you'll keep me safe."

"Baby girl as much as I'd love to hold up here with you, club needs me more right now." He patted her hand and took off after Juice, passing him and taking the lead.

"I know, just wishful thinking" she sighed, scooting closer and pressing her cheek to his back.

He kept his eyes on the road, scanning the surrounding vehicles. Even though he felt her relaxed body behind him, this wasn't a joy ride with Maddie. He had been tasked to pick her up and bring her back to Charming in one piece. He hadn't been asked to do it, he'd volunteered for it knowing he'd worry until she got there. He'd been worried about her since church this morning when the Sons had begun to truly find out what that bastard Zobelle was capable of. Maddie was his to keep safe; no longer a duty given to him by Opie or Piney, she'd managed to get under his skin. She'd been such a bitch when they first met but now she would tell him shit she didn't tell anyone. She trusted him - something he knew she didn't take lightly. The friendship he'd found in her was what he enjoyed, the sex with her was just a bonus. Like him, she didn't talk much but when she did it was from her heart and meaningful, also like him. She wasn't into mindless chit-chat or the silly games women would play, she was honest and he knew exactly what he got with her. She wasn't clingy but made sure he knew that she had feelings for him and missed him when he was away. She didn't let out useless tears, the tears in her eyes when she'd had to stay behind in Charming had been bothering him since he'd pulled out of the Winston's driveway that night. She had been tight lipped on the Charming matter. No matter how much he'd pried, she wouldn't spill the beans about why she was so desperate not to stay in Charming. He had been patched in to Tacoma and hadn't even met her until she was 18 at one of Gemma's Christmas dinners, so he didn't know the secrets of the first 12 years of her life as a Charming resident.

They pulled up to the first stop sign after they'd passed the 'Welcome to Charming' sign. Maddie let herself stretch as Juice pulled up beside them yelling to Happy "we got us a tail Hap, black van about 10 miles back. Don't think they know they've been made."

"Fuck, we're still 30 minutes out."

"What do you want to do? We can go left, hop back on the highway and hope they think we turned right towards Charming."

If it had just been him and Juice, they would have stayed right where they were and waited for the van to catch up with them to have it out right there on the road. But they had Maddie with them, and no place safe to put her during whatever battle was coming their way. "We go left and they follow, we're further away from backup." Happy paused a moment to think before saying "we haul ass to the clubhouse, hold on Maddie." He took off when she'd wrapped her arms around his waist.

For the first time in her life she was scared. Normally she would have loved the speed at which Happy had set, even though the corners and bends in the road had her stomach dropping like she was on a roller coaster; but this was different, she could feel how tense Happy was. A tense Happy wasn't a good sign. He was always on guard, never trusting the public but she knew he was worried; not about himself but about her and that meant that whoever was following them was bad news.

From his side mirrors, Happy could see the black van picking up speed which meant they knew Happy and Juice had seen them. He questioned his decision to head to Charming but it was too late now to change. He thought about slowing, pushing Maddie off and telling her to run through the surrounding woods, hoping they would continue to just follow him and Juice. But leaving her unprotected made him cringe. If it was Zobelle's guys, he didn't want to think of what they'd do if they caught up with her. Having her on his back also left her exposed and that didn't sit well with him either. As the van started to close the distance, Happy looked for an option to get her to safety . Seeing his opportunity, he hooked the bike left, watching in his mirror as Juice followed him - almost fishtailing but quickly recovering. He sped down the straight road looking for the van to pass by, he knew they had seen them turn but there was no way they'd be able to take the turn at that speed. He smiled when they blew past the road. Gunning the bike, he slowed as he saw the old abandoned gas station come into view. Years ago, Joe's Pump and Go was the only place to get gas in between Charming and the long stretch to Lodi, but once the highway ran closer to Charming, there was no need for Joe's and it had gone out of business. He pulled into the old parking lot, turning the bike sideways, spraying gravel and dirt. He jumped off the bike, yanking Maddie off as she sat dumbfounded. Tumbling off the bike, Maddie landed on her knees, her helmet flying off as she put her hands out to stop herself from falling. He heard her hiss as she hit the ground and knew she'd have scraped knees to deal with later but that wasn't his concern right now. His concern was to get her out of the way before the van made it's u-turn and followed. He bent down, grabbing her by the upper arms and yanked her up as he shouted to Juice. "Call the boys tell 'em to get their asses here now." Shoving Maddie towards the side of the building, he turned her around and looked in her eyes to make sure she understood the seriousness of the situation. He hated the fear he saw in them. "You go hide behind the dumpster, stay down. If shit goes south here, you run straight through the woods. Two miles from here there's a truck stop, call your pop to come get you."

She didn't argue and didn't say anything, just sprinted to the old blue dumpster and tucked herself behind it. When he turned around, Juice was closing his phone. "Guys will be here in 20, Hap." Both of them turned as they heard the approaching van.

"Hopefully we won't be dead by then." Pulling his gun, Juice followed suit as they stood next to each other in solidarity.

The van pulled into the parking lot with the passenger's side facing them. Happy's hope was to talk some shit to these guys and keep the banter going until backup arrived. His hopes were dashed when the window started to roll down and he saw the barrel of the gun come out. He lunged out of the way as the first bullet rang out, following Juice behind the side of the building. A hail of bullets followed them the whole way, chipping shards of concrete off the building which shattered around their feet. They waited until the bullets had stopped before Happy and Juice stepped out from behind their protection to fire back.

"What are you doing retard?" Happy shouted when he noticed what Juice was aiming for.

"Shooting out the tires so they can't get away."

"Kinda want them to go away, aim for the guy with the fucking gun."

When they unloaded their clips, they headed back under the protection of the building as the hail of bullets resumed. As they reloaded, they heard the van's engine click into gear. Happy held his breath then swore when he realized the van was pulling towards them instead of away. Gun drawn, he fired off rounds as they backed up to the dumpster for cover. The situation worsened when they came face to face with Maddie who stood frozen. Happy pushed her further back as Juice continued to fire around the dumpster. "Why the fuck are you still here? Told you to run" he shouted angrily at her.

"I was waiting for the shit to go south."

"Jesus, shit went south when the fucking bullets started flying, goddamn stupid bitch."

"Hap, cover now" Juice shouted, ducking behind the dumpster.

Happy grabbed Maddie, pulling her down and shielding her with his body as Juice took a seat next to them. The rain of bullets started again, this time pinging off the dumpster. He wrapped his arms around Maddie as she sat pressed to his chest with her head between her legs and hands over her head. He hoped to god that if one of those bullets broke through the steel that was protecting them that it would hit him and not go through. He could feel the fire now in his left shoulder and felt the blood flowing down his arm. He had felt the bullet hit him but hadn't been able to check where he'd been hit or how bad it was and now certainly wasn't the time to check. He knew it was bad from the amount of blood he could see coating his forearm and hand.

When the shooting stopped again he pushed Maddie out of his arms. Raging past Juice with his gun drawn, he was pissed: pissed he'd been hit, pissed that these bastards had scared Maddie, pissed that they were outnumbered and outgunned at this point. He stepped out against the cover of the dumpster, and fired at the rolled down window, smiling when the glass shattered and yelling from inside the van started. Taking a step forward, he continued to fire, counting his shots and yelling to Juice when he knew he was low. "Juice, now." Juice ran out from the dumpster and stepped in front of him while he dropped back to reload "Aim for the fucking shooter this time asshole."

"Fuck!" he heard Juice shout. "Gun's fucking jammed."

Happy was still in the process of reloading. Looking up, he grabbed Juice by his shirt and pulled them back behind the dumpster before the shooting started again. His upper arm screaming out, he felt the wetness soaking the shoulder of his shirt.

**Hope you all enjoyed this latest chapter in the story of Happy and Maddie! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews and follows.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Where the fuck are the guys?" Juice shouted over the sound.

"Just get your gun working again! They have to reload again sometime and when they do, we both go out shooting, charge 'em." Going back to Maddie he saw the tears streaming down her face. He grabbed her again, putting him between the dumpster and her. "It's alright baby girl, it'll be alright."

The shooting stopped. Juice stood gun drawn but Happy grabbed him with his good arm, pulling him back down. "Wait." The three of them stayed quiet, until they heard the sound of the van pulling away.

Juice peeked his head out "They fucking left! What now?"

"We fucking sit here until the cavalry comes." Happy leaned back against the wall and licked his lips, sweat pouring off him. He leaned his head back against the wall and felt Maddie stir in his arms, looking up at Juice.

"Are they really gone?" her voice wavered.

"Yeah, oh shit Maddie, are you hit?" Juice asked noticing the mass of blood on her.

"Nah, it's mine" Happy grunted, as Maddie turned herself around, crashing into his wounded arm.

"Shit Hap," she almost screamed. Her hand went to her mouth, his entire left arm was covered in blood, the arm of his shirt soaked. Her hands shot out to lift up the sleeve of his shirt to see how bad it was, not that she'd know what to do or even if it was bad. His right hand grabbed her before she could get close.

"It's fucking fine, leave it" Happy tried to reassure her even though he wasn't sure himself.

"We should put pressure on it to stop the bleeding" she said, looking around for something to put over the wound.

"Stop being a girl Maddie. I said I'm fine." She looked like she was just about to disagree with him when they heard the sound of approaching bikes. He went to get up, shoving Maddie's hand out of the way when she went to help him. It was a struggle but he wasn't going to be holding on to some woman when his brothers arrived. His hand held the wound on his arm in place to stop it from opening up further as they stepped out from behind the dumpster.

Clay was the first to speak as the rest of the guys parked, getting off their bikes "What the fuck happened? Jesus Hap you okay?"

"Yeah,a black van tailing us chased us here and shot the fucking place up."

"Goddamn Zobelle!"

"Wasn't Zobelle, guys were speaking Spanish" Happy grunted, but sighed in relief when he saw the club's van pull up. He knew he couldn't ride like this back to the clubhouse but would have done it if he had to.

"Mayans?" Jax asked.

"Not sure, didn't get a look at them. With the fire power they had coulda been." His relief from seeing the van was short lived when he saw Piney get out and walk towards Maddie looking pissed.

"You assholes were supposed to bring her in safe, this don't look safe to me."

"Pop I'm fine."

"Sure as shit don't look fine." Pointing his finger at Happy, Piney stepped closer to him while Maddie placed herself in between them. "You should have made the call as soon as you saw the fucking van, not wait till they were close enough to fire on you."

Happy inched closer to Piney, his face one of dark fury. "I fucking made the decision I thought was in our best interest old man. You don't got the right to question me now. Should've just left her in Bakersfield. Could've put a Tacoma patch on her like I said, so this shit is on you. I kept her safe, kept her whole. You're the one who wanted her in Charming, if it'd been you going to get her, you'd both be dead."

Maddie turned to look at Happy. That had stung, knowing he'd come after her out of some obligation, some chore Piney had given him.

Piney took another step towards Happy. "You fucking little prick, you don't get to make decisions involving my daughter."

Maddie put out her hands, pushing her father back slightly. "Pop, stop it, I'm fine."

"Enough!" Clay shouted, "let's get going before he bleeds to death. Jax, call Tara. Tell her to be ready. Hap you're in the van with Piney and Maddie." Turing to Piney, Clay barked "Do I fucking need to put a babysitter in with you three?" Getting no response other than a shake of the head, he walked towards his bike. "Good," he said over his shoulder. "Prospect, you ride Hap's bike back."

Happy struggled to get to the van, climbing in the back. When Maddie went to get in behind him, Piney shouted to her "You're sitting up front with me."

Maddie turned to Piney and rolled her eyes. "Jesus Christ Pop he's fucking bleeding, I'm not letting him die on the way back." She stepped into the van, taking a seat next to Happy as Piney got in the front seat.

Happy felt Maddie's hands on him tugging his shirt. He tried to tell her he was fine but didn't have the energy to push her away as she pulled his t-shirt off, peeling it away from where it had stuck to the wound. She balled up the shirt and pressed it against the still-bleeding spot on his upper shoulder. They rode that way in silence to the clubhouse, Chibs and Tig helping him out of the van and dragging him to where Tara had set up a makeshift triage. Maddie followed behind her father, cringing when she heard the shrill of her mother's voice. "What the hell happened Piney?" Mary asked, going to inspect her daughter.

"She's fine, get her cleaned up" he said, passing the two.

Mary ushered Maddie into the clubhouse past the crowd of onlookers who were staring at the blood bath that covered her once-white top like some sort of wet t-shirt contest gone wrong. She pushed her into Jax's dorm room. "Come on, you can use the bathroom in here. We don't have one in our room."

"Our room?" she asked, hoping that she'd heard the woman wrong.

"Too many people, we'll be sharing a bed in your dad's old dorm room."

"Awesome" she said sarcastically.

"Madelynn, don't start with me. This is a serious situation, and nobody needs your shit right now. You've already got one member shot and the rest had to leave us unprotected to go rescue you."

"I don't doubt that this is a serious situation, for once can you just be a mother? Jesus I got shot at today! Somebody shot at me and you don't even ask how I am. I'm standing here in front of you covered in blood and you say nothing. And, for your fucking information they were after Juice and Happy so I didn't cause anyone to get shot."

"Think of somebody besides yourself Madelynn! A man took a bullet for you today."

"You don't even like the club!"

"I may not like it and what it's done to my family but I still respect it. You should too if someone's putting their life on the line for you."

"Well maybe you should respect your family as much. Next time you want to give me lecture about respect, why don't you think about you bailing on me. You knew I was headed back to Bakersfield and you fucking cut out and ran, leaving a fucking note. How long are you gonna stick around this time Mary?" she shouted, slamming the door to the bathroom.

After her shower, she went to the main room of the clubhouse. Seeing the Winston's all at one table porn star included, she bypassed their table saying hi to the kids as she took a seat at the bar. Looking for Happy but not finding him, she approached Tara who let her know he was all stitched up and sleeping off a pain pill in his dorm. When she saw Opie get up and go outside, she followed him. "So you still mad at me?"

"Yep."

"Looks like you forgave Ma."

Turning around and looking at her he said "that's because I expected it from her, didn't think you'd follow in her footsteps." Opie walked back inside, leaving her standing there like an idiot.

She awoke early the next morning and took an inventory of her family situation: the woman currently snoring next her was pissed at her, her brother was still mad at her and her father was indifferent to her as always. She thought about talking to Happy to see if he'd do a cover up over the Winston tattoo on her back or maybe just black it out. She wasn't sure if she wanted to be a Winston and it seemed that she wasn't wanted in the Winston family either.

Her thoughts now on Happy, she realised she hadn't even had the chance to thank him for essentially taking a bullet for her, hadn't seen him since he was pulled out of the van. His comment about it being Piney that wanted her here, not him had stung. She wasn't the type of woman to question words spoken, but she knew Happy well enough to know he didn't say things without a reason and the fact that she was now lying here in bed questioning what he said had her worried. Her relationship with Happy was the longest ongoing relationship she had ever had and she wasn't ready to give up yet. Getting out of bed quietly, she went to door and opened it softly while watching the bed for movement from her mother. She closed the door and padded down the hallway dressed in only an oversized t-shirt, making her way to Happy's room. The clubhouse took on a blue cast in the early morning light, making it seem much less seedy. Seeing and hearing no signs of anybody being awake, she raised her hand to knock on his closed door. She stopped hand frozen in the air, suddenly riddled with insecurities. If she knocked, would everyone hear it and catch her standing outside his door? Would he even hear it? What if he was still crashed out? Would he even want to see her? She lowered her hand and began to pace back and forth in front of his door trying to rein in her thoughts. She wasn't used to questioning herself when it came to him; this non-relationship was now becoming a relationship full of hesitation. Everything between them had been so easy. They were honest with each other, never holding back thoughts or feelings. This was stupid, she thought after pacing for ten minutes. They were fucking for Christ's sake, they were friends. She stopped again in front of his door with her hand raised. Suddenly the door was flung open and Happy was standing there staring her down. Maddie almost screamed in surprise, but with lightening speed, Happy grabbed her and pulled her in. Peeking out into the hallway, he closed the door behind him.

**Thanks again for all the follows and reviews you guys are amazing!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"What the fuck you doin?" he asked, taking a step forward and causing her to back into the door. She could smell the soap from the shower he'd just had and couldn't help but notice how the towel hung low on his hips.

"I... I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

"That why you're pacing in front of my door?" She went to protest that she wasn't, she didn't want him thinking she was thinking too much, but instead said nothing and shrugged. "Saw your shadow under the door, what're you doin here Maddie?"

"I was just worried about you, you know getting shot and all."

"Told you I was fine yesterday, ain't the first time I've taken a bullet. What else you got going on in that mind?"

"Just that you said it was my pop that wanted me here. Do you not want me here?" Biting her bottom lip, she waited for the answer.

"No." Seeing the frown form on her face he continued, "It ain't what you're thinking, I saw that look on your face yesterday. Maddie I don't want you here because I don't want you caught up in all the bullshit that's been going on. I told your Pop before I came to get you that you were safer in Bakersfield with a patch on you. Stubborn old bastard wouldn't listen though, and I sure as hell wasn't going to send some prospect to come get your ass. I wanna keep you safe baby girl."

"What the hell has been going on? I don't even know why there's a lockdown."

"Ain't my place to tell you, that's Opie or Piney's job."

Maddie snorted. "That ain't going to happen."

"How you holding up?"

"Well Opie still hates me and won't talk to me, got bitched out by mother who I am sharing a room with, Piney is well Piney, and I got shot at, you got shot, scared the hell outta me."

"I'm sorry baby girl, keep your chin up, you'll be fine." He lifted her chin so he could get a good look at her. She might hold stuff in, but her eyes always gave her away. What he saw there wasn't the sadness he'd seen after Donna's death, or the frustration he'd seen when her mother had left Charming, what returned his gaze was worry. "Baby what's wrong?" he asked hoping he wouldn't get her normal 'everything is fine' response and then be forced to ask it again. He hated repeating himself, and didn't want to have that argument with her.

"God Hap, I was so scared when I saw all that blood," she said leaning more into him and sighing when he wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry you got shot because of me."

"Maddie, I didn't get shot because of you. I got fucking shot because of the kutte, had nothing to do with you." He had always respected Piney's decision to keep her away from the club, it kept her safe all these years but it also kept her in the dark on how to deal with the shitstorm when it came knocking. She wasn't used to the danger, she only knew of the club as a family - didn't know what they really did. And what the consequences were.

"But you wouldn't have been put in that position if it wasn't for me. You wouldn't have been backed into a corner if I wasn't with you."

"Fuck Maddie, you worrying about this shit doesn't change anything, you feeling bad about it doesn't either. And if I choose to take a bullet for you in the future, that's my choice. Not Opie's or Piney's, it's all mine. So if you're thinking I only care about you because of some obligation, you're fucking wrong. Don't you go getting all girly and shit on me, over-thinking shit with me. You and me are simple, don't change that." Leaning in and kissing her, he saw that fire back in her eyes, seeing the lust in them. "Jesus Maddie what am I gonna do with you?" Pushing her further up against his door, he bent his head down for another kiss and could feel her breath quickening as her back arched away from the door and into him. Kissing and gently biting her neck, his voice was a low rumble in her ear, "You're gonna have to be quiet baby girl." Maddie's only response was to remove her underwear then yank on his towel, her eyes trailing appreciatively down his muscular body to the defined v cuts just above his hip. Wrapping his arms around her, he made a move to pick her up but Maddie protested.

"Your arm?"

Happy shrugged it off. "Just a flesh wound." He scooped her up despite the protest his arm made when he had her full weight in his arms. Her legs wrapped around him, urgently pulling him inside her and making him forget all about his arm. As he pushed himself further into her, she buried her face in the crook of his shoulder, a small satisfied moan escaping against his skin. Her breath was hot and sweet on his neck as he pulled back and slammed into her again. Sensing that the rhythmic sound of the door banging might alert people as to what was going on, he moved his hands from her waist and placed them between her back and the door as a buffer. Lost in the feel of her, he ignored the agony as the fresh stitches began to rip and didn't slow his speed, even when he felt the warm blood start to run down his arm. Even though he knew he'd have a hell of a time explaining this to Tara when she'd have to fix her work, he didn't care. All he cared about right now was the woman panting out his name.

"Oh God Hap, that's perfect" she whispered, her head rolling back and her eyes closing.

He knew she was close when heard the small little whimpers escape her slightly parted lips, he also knew there was a fifty fifty chance she was going to let out a scream when she did. He managed to capture her lips in his as he rode out the wave, waiting until her end to release himself with a gruff groan. He pulled out of her, her legs dropping to the floor as she sagged against him, panting. She clung to his neck until her legs were solid again.

Her head was pressed up against his hard chest when she caught sight of the blood with a gasp. "Oh Jesus Hap you're bleeding."

"No shit." He had wanted to get her out of there before she noticed, to have it re-stitched without her knowing about it. He knew it was his male ego that didn't want her worrying about it or thinking he was somehow incapacitated and couldn't fuck her like he always had.

"Shit, I'll get Tara" she said, searching for and putting on her underwear.

"No, you'll get your ass back to your room. I'll get dressed and get Tara."

"But you're bleeding! You should sit down, I'll get her."

"How the fuck you gonna explain why you're walking around here in nothing but a shirt and happened to be with me? Now get the fuck outta here back to your room." Opening his door, he checked that the coast was clear in the hallway before shoving her out and shutting the door.

Maddie stood in the hallway looking at his closed door. She turned to head back down to her temporary room, at least she hoped it was a temporary room, when she heard the toilet flush in the communal bathroom. Knowing there was no way she'd make it back to her room, she walked backwards ducking into the kitchen, sighing in relief.

"Good morning sweetheart, you hiding from someone?"

Inwardly cringing, Maddie mentally slapped herself on the forehead for her own bad luck. Turning around, she planted a cheerful and what she hoped was a nonchalant smile on her face. "Nope, just wanted some coffee." She moved to the fresh pot and poured herself a cup.

Gemma made her trademark 'I know you're lying' face and raised an eyebrow. "You sure? Most people don't come in the kitchen backwards."

Before another lie could come out, Tara burst in the kitchen, hurriedly grabbing towels from under the sink. "Stupid dumbass, I told him to take it easy and he goes and lifts weights."

Maddie remained silent, sipping her coffee "Who Hap?"

"Yeah, ripped his stitches open and now he's bleeding all over the place." Taking the towels, Tara exited the kitchen.

Maddie stood frozen staring at her coffee. Gemma leaned in a little closer. "Why don't you go clean the blood off your arm sweetheart" she said, gesturing to the smear of blood Maddie had failed to notice on her upper arm. "Before anyone else sees it, then come outside and have a little chat with me."

**Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for all the reviews!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Maddie went to the bathroom and quickly washed the blood from her arm. Tiptoeing back into the room, she pulled on a pair of pants and grabbed her bra before sneaking back out, trying not to wake her mother. She crept down the hall, quietly chuckling as she heard Tara berating Happy for the ripped stitches. Quietly passing all the sleeping bodies that were sprawled out in various makeshift beds, she headed out of the clubhouse doors and took a seat on the bench outside.

"Here" Gemma said, offering her a cigarette and scoffing when she refused it. "Your ma maybe stupid but I'm not. Take one, I think we're going to have to have a nice long chat, one that requires nicotine." Maddie took the smoke and lit it, waiting for Gemma to continue. "So how long has that little thing you got going on with Hap been happening?"

Maddie looked to the ground "Almost a year now."

"Shit baby, you know that isn't going to end well right?"

"I know. You're not going to tell my folks are you?"

"Fuck no! We got enough shit going on around here, no need to add that shitstorm to the mix. Are you in love with him ?"

"No"

"So it's just sex?"

"No, it's more than that. Fuck I don't know what it is exactly."

"Well you better figure it out and soon before someone else figures out what game you two have been playing. It'd be one thing if he wanted to make you his old lady and went to your pop to ask permission, but I don't see him doing that."

"No, we already had that talk and he doesn't want an old lady. I'm not some misguided girl thinking he will. I don't even want to be his old lady Gemma, I already know the kind of shit that entails. I like being with him though, he puts me at ease like no one else. Aside from the whole father and brother that will kill him if they find out, it's easy to be with him ."

"Well it could be worse, you could have hooked up with Tig."

"I'll make sure to mention that if I incur Piney's wrath for this."

"Oh, you'll both incur his wrath for this. You just have to figure out when if you want to keep this thing going. Just don't do it while we're all stuck here, Clay will have a heart attack if he has one more thing go wrong."

"Gemma what the hell is going on around here? Hap won't tell me, Pop has always been tight lipped about the club and Opie's not currently talking to me." She sat in silence as Gemma retold the story of the rape, Chibs getting blown up, problems with the ATF and the Irish, the attack on Otto, and Luanne's death. She left out the part about the boys being pinched, unsure of what Happy wanted her to know and not know. She knew Piney would probably cause a stink about Maddie being told this much, but Maddie was old enough now and had been around the club for enough years to know that what the guys did wasn't always on the up and up. "Jesus Gemma, I don't know what to say. I'm so sorry, I knew about Otto and Luanne but nothing else."

"I'm fine baby." Gemma responded putting her arm around the girl.

"Was it Zobelle who shot at us?"

"No, the guys aren't sure who that was."

"So that's why there's the lockdown?"

"No, lockdown was called for the Zobelle thing. The guys don't want to take any chances while they wait for the opportunity to take the bastard and his white hate crew out."

"How did shit get so fucked up?"

"It just happens baby. You were too young to remember the Mayan war, that's when your ma took off with you and Opie. Everything's been quiet until now and it'll be quiet again."

"You're wrong Gemma, I remember. It was shit, it killed my family. Yeah Ma and Pop never really got along but she didn't just leave because shit got bad. She would have come back if that was the case. She knew shit would go bad again, the fucking guns." Seeing the shocked look on Gemma's face, she said "guys talk too much when little girls are around, think we're not listening" by way of explanation.

"Sometimes guys are idiots. Listen baby, just keep the thing with Hap under wraps. Next time you want to sneak into his dorm room for a quickie, make sure he doesn't rip his fucking stitches. The men need him. And for god's sake, check the hallways and the kitchen before you do next time." Giving her a squeeze and a kiss on the cheek, she left Maddie to go inside and start breakfast.

"You're up early." Jax's voice came from behind. Turning her head to offer him a smile, he walked toward her and took Gemma's vacated spot.

"Mary snores. Just had a talk with your mother."

"Yeah, she leave you with any words of wisdom?"

"Told me about everything."

"Shit, Piney didn't want you knowing."

"Jax I know that you guys still see me as some 12-year-old girl you don't want to worry, but if you haven't noticed, I grew up. I can handle a lot more than you think."

"I'm sorry, Opie or Piney should have told you."

"It's kind of hard for Opie to do that when he's not talking to me."

"He'll come around, you know it's not you he's pissed at. He's mad at himself because you called him out on his bullshit." He gave her a smile, "and you know how much we hate that."

"So you _do _listen."

"It's hard not to when a spunky little red head is yelling at you."

"What're you guys going to do?"

"Take out Zobelle and all the fuckers involved. Just need to do it quick, before we all go inside."

"What?"

"Jail time, didn't Gemma tell you? We fucked up, tried to get Zobelle before we were ready and got fucking pinched for holding up a church rally. Felony charges."

"Fuck, what is Opie going to do with the kids? This is his second felony."

"Opie didn't get caught, it was me, Clay, Tig, Bobby, Juice, and Hap. Opie and Piney are good and so is Chibs." He saw a small frown form on her face. "It'll be alright Mad, we've all done time before - not this much but we'll figure something out, we always do."

Her heart had sunk when he'd named Happy. He hadn't told her about going inside or how long he'd be away or even when. The thought of him not popping by her house for who knows how long made her heart ache. It also pissed her off that he hadn't shared this information with her. Their relationship may not have been normal by any means but they were also supposed to be friends. She turned her head and saw him walking out of the clubhouse, lighting a smoke. His arm was freshly bandaged and he was wearing jeans and a wife beater. She shot him a glare and he looked back at her in confusion. He had just started to make his way over to the bench when they all heard shouts coming from the parking lot. They all looked to see Opie lunging at Tig as his hand connected with his face. Maddie was the first off the bench running but Jax passed her and pulled Opie off Tig who didn't seem to be fighting back. Placing himself between the two, Jax pushed Opie back further. Maddie arrived just as Opie was lunging to get past Jax. Grabbing for his shoulder she shouted "Opie!"

The anger was clear on his face as he spun around and shrugged out of her grasp, causing her to stumble back. "Back off Maddie it doesn't concern you."

"What the fuck Op?" she asked as Happy caught her from falling.

Opie motioned to Happy who still had his hand wrapped around her arm. "Hap get her the fuck out of here." He didn't want her to find out about Donna this way it would break her heart, he was still pissed at her but always the brother he didn't want her hurt.

"Come on Maddie" Happy said as he started to pull her back towards the clubhouse. When she tried to pull away from his hold, he pressed his mouth next to her ear, threatening her in a whispered voice "Don't make me throw you over my shoulder and drag your ass in there."

She stopped struggling against his hold but once they were at the clubhouse door, she stopped walking and pulled her arm free. "Get your damn hands off me" she hissed. Pissed that she had been pulled away like a child yet feeling like one because she wanted to stomp her feet and demand someone tell her what the hell was going on, she walked into the clubhouse. Making a beeline down the hallway and past her mother's prying eyes, she went towards the bathroom door. Happy, who was still behind her, almost shoved her into the room. Shutting the door behind him, he glared at her with a thunderous scowl on his face.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Jesus, can I get a second alone? Fuck, I'm stuck sharing a room with my mother, all I want is a moment of peace, where I don't have someone watching me."

"You'll get your second when you tell me what has you all worked up, and it ain't just about your ma."

"Had a conversation with Gemma this morning, filled me in on shit going on around here, and then Jax filled me in on the rest. When were you planning on telling me you got arrested?"

"I have to tell you shit now? That's where we're at with this? I don't fucking answer to anyone."

"I'm not asking you to answer to me, but fuck what about your mom? What's going to happen when you're gone for who knows how long?"

"This is why I didn't tell you! I don't know how long I'm going away for, didn't want you all worried about shit that you don't need to be worried about. And are you sure it's my ma you're worried about, this ain't about you? You getting all attached and wondering where this is going? Told you I don't do regular girls."

"Fuck you Happy." Lunging forward, she pushed him as hard as she could but he didn't even budge. "Get the fuck out of here!" Hating the sight of the smirk on his face, she shoved him again. When he still didn't move, she turned to punches. Hitting him everywhere her fist would land, he still didn't budge. She gave one last punch, hitting him in the abs and finally getting a grunt out of him but she was sure it hurt her fist more than it did him. Out of breath after working over the human punching bag that still stood in front of her, she panted out "Fuck you."

"Hell of a right hook. You done now? Want to try and have a civilized conversation about what's goin in that pretty little head of yours?"

"No." Her voice was like a small child's. Staring back up at him, her eyes brimmed with tears causing the smirk he had held through her breakdown to fall.

"Shit, baby girl" he said, pulling her into his arms. "What's going on?"

Resting her head against his hard chest, she sighed. "Fucking Charming! It makes me nuts, puts me on edge."

"It'll be alright Maddie, everything's going to be fine, chin up baby girl."

They were interrupted by Tig pounding on the door, calling Hap to church. Slumping further into him, she could hear his heart beating in a steady and reassuring rhythm. "Don't go" she begged, not talking about church but about the impending time that he'd serve.

Knowing she wasn't talking about church either, he gave her a kiss on the head. "Ain't got a choice, I have to." Releasing his hold on her, he gave her the time alone she'd been requesting.

She would have spent the rest of the day locked in that bathroom if it hadn't been for her mother shouting at her to get her ass in gear because people were hungry. It was late in the night by the time she lay down on a cot. She was in the main room, surrounded by others. She shuddered at the thought of why she had been sent out of her room: Mary and Piney were spending a random, awkward night together. Trying not to think about her parents in bed together, her thoughts drifted to Happy. They hadn't talked since her meltdown. He had taken it in his stride, knowing outbursts like that weren't frequent. This is why she stayed away from this place, it got her worked up every time she had to step foot in this small town. Getting up, she made her way down the hallway to the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Lighting a cigarette, she paced the confined area then crept back down the dark hallway. Glancing in the kitchen and then back into the main room she snuck back down the hallway. Not bothering to pace in front of his door or knock this time, she quickly went in gently shutting the door behind her. Softly illuminated by the bedside lamp, he was leaning against the headboard in his wife beater and boxers, sketch pad in hand. He looked at her with curious eyes. "What're you doin up?"

"Couldn't sleep, just tossing and turning."

"Your ma snoring again?" Giving her a smirk, he motioned her to come to him.

Maddie crinkled her nose in disgust. "No, she kicked me out to get some from Pop." She crawled up beside him on the bed, looking down at the pad in his hand and the crow that was forming. "Who're you drawing that for?"

"You gettin ideas Maddie?" He gave her a smirk to let her know he was kidding. She'd never asked for a crow and he knew she wasn't one to want one anyway.

"No, asshole" she said, giving him a shoulder bump.

"Drawin it for your brother. He's going to make it official with Lyla."

"Jesus, thought he'd do better than that whore."

"Nothing wrong with making a living."

"Sorry I flipped out on you earlier." Leaning back, she rested her head on his shoulder as he continued drawing.

"You hit like a girl, need to use your body more if you want to land a good one. Last one was pretty good."

"Really? I hit you and all you're going to do is give me tips on my punches."

"What'd you want me to say Mad?"

"I don't know, like 'what the fuck is wrong with you' or 'bitch you ever do that again I'll knife you'."

"You needed to hit someone, I just happened to be there. And I've never said 'I'll knife you', I just do it. You alright now? Got your shit worked out?" He scooted down in bed, putting down his drawing and letting her snuggle in closer.

"Yeah, I just don't want you to go to prison, scares the hell out of me. What if something happens to you while you're inside?"

"Done time before, I'll be fine. You look after my ma while I'm in?"

"You don't have to ask that. Can I sleep in here with you?" she asked, already under the covers.

"Don't think that's a good idea do you?" he responded, joining her and turning off his lamp.

"I'll leave before everyone else is up, I just don't want to sleep alone. I want to pretend that we're in Bakersfield for the night. Just you and me. No club, no family, just simple."

"Go to sleep baby girl and dream away."

He stayed awake listening to her soft contented breathing. He hated to wake her but it'd be light soon. The rest of the clubhouse would be up in an hour so there was still plenty of time for her to sneak out unnoticed. "Maddie you gotta get up" he whispered as much as a man like him could whisper as he sat up slightly causing her to lift her head.

"Is it morning yet?" Pushing herself up and looking at him, she could see the moonlight was still shining through the thin sheet that hung over his window.

"Almost."

"Okay." Sitting up further, rubbing her eyes and yawning, she leaned back in to give him a kiss. Taking the opportunity to deepen the kiss, she got a groan from him when she ran her tongue across his lips.

"Shit Mad we ain't got time for this."

"There's always time for sex Hap, you going to leave me hanging?" Giving him a playful smirk, she gasped when he pulled her in for another kiss and tried to roll her over so that she was underneath him. "Uh uh Hap your arm can't put any weight on it. You just lie back, let me do the work." Pushing him back down, she pulled her shorts off quickly and yanked her t-shirt over her head. Placing her hands over the ink on his chest she straddled him. Noticing the look of disdain on his face, she paused. "What?"

"I want to fuck you Maddie." Entwining his hand in her red locks, he pulled her down to him, kissing her aggressively.

"I know but I'm not going to let you rip open those stitches, so it's either me fucking you or nothing." At his nod of grudging consent, she reached her hand around and freed him from his boxers. She tried to remember if there had ever been a time when she'd been in control during this part of their relationship. She couldn't think of a time when it hadn't been him hovering over her or pushing her up against some wall. She knew he liked control and had been more than happy to relinquish it to him. Glancing back into his eyes, she sunk herself down on him gasping at the feel of him and the lust that filled his dark eyes. Maddie was no stranger to sex, Opie had been right when he questioned her about never having a relationship longer than three months. From the time she was eighteen she had had a lot of partners. She knew what men wanted and knew how to please them. Happy was no different. His hand reached for her breasts as she arched her back and moved in time against him and his thrusting hips. She bit her bottom lip to contain her moan.

Happy moved his hands down her body, resting them on her slender hips. He could just feel the hipbones under her flesh as she rolled them. His eyes traveled up, taking in Maddie with her head thrown back, riding him. He should have been turned on by this, normally it got him off but looking at Maddie above him, his mind suddenly turned to the last croweater he'd had in this room, before Maddie had been brought here. Her red hair was replaced with the dark hair of the woman whose name he couldn't remember, didn't even think he had known it in the first place. For the first time in his life, it had him regretting some of the decisions he had made recently. Maddie wasn't a whore but here she was above him acting like the brunette with the dark eyeliner who'd been with every guy in the club. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the image. There was a reason he'd always taken control with Maddie and this was it. When he was with her, he didn't want to think of the other women that shared his bed, she was better than them. With the sweetbutts he'd always had them on top or taken them from behind. Maddie was the only girl he'd fuck with him on top so he could see her face - the other girls were just nameless women. He reached his hand up to pull her back to him so he could see her eyes and remind him of who he was with but as he did, Maddie slid her own hand between her legs.

Suddenly he wasn't remorseful anymore about the other women. He was pissed, pissed that Maddie was touching herself, something she'd never done with him before. He was pissed that his arm was making him feel weak, that he hadn't been able to fuck his girl like he wanted and obviously wasn't able to give her what she needed. His ego got in the way of being able to enjoy the feel of her around him. He shot his hand out, snatching her wrist and pulling it away from herself. She gasped at his touch, looking in confusion as his rough hand encased her wrist. He stopped moving underneath her, causing her to stop her own movements. "What?" she panted.

"Get off" he said gruffly, releasing her hand and grabbing her waist, effectively lifting her off him. Pushing her to the side, he put his boxers back on and got out of bed.

Maddie was still confused as to why he'd suddenly cut this short. "What's wrong Hap? Did I do something?"

He turned around, grabbing her clothes that had been dropped to the floor and shoving them at her. "Get dressed, get the fuck out of here. Told you didn't have time for this."

"But..."

"Don't make me yell and wake up the whole damn clubhouse, have them all wondering why you're in my bed naked. I'll tell your pop you came onto me like some fucking whore." The look on her face told him that his outburst had clearly stung but he didn't attempt to lessen the sting. Keeping her eyes averted, she slowly started getting dressed. She stood up from the bed, finally raising her head to look at him. "I don't understand what the fuck is wrong with you but go fuck yourself, you're a real asshole."

"Don't have time for your fucking little girl games Maddie. Go play somewhere else." Lighting a smoke he was almost waiting for her to lash out at him with those small hands of hers, but when she didn't respond and left as quietly as she has come in last night, he felt worse.

He fought the need to go after her and apologize for being a prick and tell her it was his ego that told her to go . He wanted to tell her she was perfect, he just hated himself for not being able to please her. Then he hated himself for having the need to go after her in the first place. He'd never cared about a girl's feelings before and didn't like that the little red head had him wanting to take that hurt look in her eyes away.

**Thanks so much for all the wonderful reviews and for taking the time to read. And it can't be all sunshine between Happy and Maddie all the time this is Happy we're taking about:)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"What's going on there?" Gemma asked Maddie motioning to the couch that was currently occupied by Happy, Juice and a surgically enhanced blonde. The woman who was on Happy's lap was raking her long red talons across his well-defined abs and alternating between sucking his neck and sticking her tongue down his throat.

"You two alright?"

"Everything's fine, nothing happened. Told you it wasn't serious between us. He's a grown ass man who does whatever he wants."

"Yeah and is that why it looks like you want to rip that bitches face off and he keeps looking over here to see if you're going to do something? Tell me what happened."

"Nothing" she said, turning around not wanting to torture herself further. "I mean, I don't know. Everything was fine, I slept with him in his room last night. We were in the middle of fucking this morning and he just stopped, threw me out of his room and called me a whore."

"He just stopped in the middle of it?"

"Yeah, I think I did it wrong." Gemma let out a laugh. "It's not funny Gem."

"Baby how could you do it wrong?"

"I don't know. I was on top, he's never let me do that before but with his stitches..."

"Wait, you've never been on top?"

"I've been on top with other guys but not with him. It's always been him on top or fucking me against some wall so maybe he didn't like it."

"Jesus, Maddie you really are a dumb bitch."

"What?"

"If you're going to be with a guy like him you need to understand how these guys work. You are dealing with the biggest alpha male of the group. Even Tig relinquishes control in the bedroom, but Happy he doesn't ever lose that control. Given that and him being hurt it makes him feel weak and then you being on top emasculates him further."

"It's not like I did it on purpose! What am I supposed to do, just go along with his male ego bullshit?"

"If you want to continue whatever it is that you've got going with him, yeah. I'm not saying let him control everything but in the bedroom you're going to have to."

"I don't care about that, I kinda like it. How do I fix this then? Just wait until his arm's better and watch him parade every ragged piece of snatch in the club in front of me?"

"No, you got to fix this now before anyone else sees the looks you two are giving each other."

"And how do I do that?"

"Watch and learn sweetheart" Gemma said, walking out from behind the bar and yelling to the couple on the couch. "Hey asshole, doc says it's time for your bandages to be changed."

The blonde in his lap cooed in his ear, "I can help you with that baby."

"No you can't. Need someone hygienic, don't know where your hands have been" Gemma said, staring the blonde down until she removed herself from Happy's lap. "Maddie will do it, she's clean. Don't do it out here, you'll gross the kids out." Happy got up frustrated and handed Gemma his beer making his way to his dorm room.

Maddie came out behind the bar. "And now what?" she asked as Gemma handed her the first aid kit.

"Go in his room, hop your little ass up on the bathroom counter, bat your eyes at him and let him fuck you like a man."

"It's that simple?"

"Yeah, sex always fixes shit. Just don't talk too much, you'll ruin it."

She walked to Happy's room closing the door behind her and pushing the lock in discreetly. He grabbed the first aid kit from her hands. "I can do this my damn self."

"Yeah? How are you going to do that one handed?" She followed him in the bathroom. "Just let me help, I don't want to get my ass chewed by mother Gemma" she said, grabbing the kit back from him. She hopped up on the counter in front of him, waiting for him to step closer and remove his shirt. She hated the way her body reacted to him just standing shirtless in front of her. She wanted to reach out and trail her hand down his body. Getting herself in check, she removed the old bandage and cleaned the wound. "It looks good, I think the stitches will come out in a day or two and then you'll be back on your bike, have to get some of that ink fixed though" she said, starting to wrap the new bandage around his arm.

"What're you smiling about?" he asked when he saw the smile cross her lips.

"This just reminds me of that time you sliced your hand open working on my car. You were such an ass when I wanted to clean it out for you. Kept telling me you were fine, all the while bleeding all over my bathroom."

"Wouldn't have cut my fucking hand if you weren't parading your ass around in that little bathing suit of yours."

"It was the summer Hap."

"Yeah, almost had to kill your neighbor."

Maddie laughed. "I know, he moved right after that incident."

"Fucking pussy."

"I don't think he realized the rules when he moved in next door to me."

"Still shouldn't have been looking" he smirked at her.

"I wore it for you, not him; I was trying to entice you."

"It worked."

"I know, I had bruises on my back for a week from the towel rack on my bathroom wall." She ran her hands down his chest and leaned forward to nip his neck, loving the smell of cigarettes and liquor. The faint smell of the cheap perfume the bitch who'd been in his lap was wearing wafted off him. She pulled back looking up at him. "You really want to fuck that skank over me?"

"You really gonna ask that?"

"Yeah, we've never not been honest with each other until this morning. What the fuck was that all about?"

He ran his hand over his head and down his face."Shit Maddie, what the fuck are we doing?"

"I thought we were having fun until you started throwing other girls' pussies in my face after you kicked me out of your room this morning mid fuck."

"I just didn't like seeing you like that."

"What, naked?"

He didn't know how to respond. He couldn't tell her it made him think of the whores he'd been with in that same bed, and she was more than a whore to him so he went the easier way out. "You've never touched yourself before."

"Jesus is that what that was about? You think because I did that you weren't pleasing me? If you failed to notice, I was enjoying myself. I thought guys like when women did that in front of them."

"Well I don't."

"You could have just told me that! Instead you were a complete asshole, made me feel like shit."

"Didn't mean to do that."

"Next time just fucking tell me, we're friends right?"

"Yeah, never been friends with a chick before so cut me some slack."

"It's a first for both of us. I've never been friends with someone I'm fucking" she said, leaning up and kissing him.

"You want to do this here?" he asked as she went to deepen the kiss.

"Yes, no towel bar." Going to the spot on his neck just below his ear, she nibbled at the skin.

That spot on his neck was reserved just for her and she was the only one who knew about it. He loved when she did it, with her it didn't take much to get him going - just a look from those gorgeous green eyes of hers. He pulled her closer to him, his hands wrapping themselves in her glossy red locks and pulling her lips to his. Gently brushing his tongue across her parted lips, he ran his hands down her small waist and tugged at the hem of her shirt, breaking the kiss to remove it. Pulling back and running his hand down her milky white skin, he stopped at her partially exposed breast, staring at her heaving chest. Never taking his dark eyes off her, he pulled at the button on her shorts as she hopped off the counter to let her shorts fall. Letting her underwear drop to the floor, she daintily stepped out of them and she went to his belt buckle. When he was free of his boxers, he went to lift her back up in the counter but she stopped him, motioning to his arm. Helping herself back up on the counter, she spread her legs giving him room to step in between them. She was giving him control but wasn't going to let go of it enough for him to re-injure his arm. As much as she needed him, the club needed him to be whole right now. They'd be facing Zobelle and his men soon so Happy's mind and body needed to be in perfect condition. She understood that when Gemma told her to fix things it wasn't just so they'd keep their dirty secret hidden, it was for the benefit of the club.

His good arm snaked around her waist, pulling her closer to him so he could slide into her. Gripping onto his shoulders, her nails dug into his back as he thrust into her again. Quickly capturing her lips in his, he was able to silence her moan. Pulling her forward and holding her in place, he slammed into her again, letting out his own grunt of pleasure. Tightly wrapping her legs around his waist and pulling him deeper into her, she gasped "Fuck Hap you feel so fucking good." Her nails dug further into to his back, drawing blood and leaving scarlet crescents, making it that much sweeter for him. He reached out, cupping her face with one hand so he could look at her sweet upturned face and watch as her eyes glazed over with pleasure.

"Only for you baby girl." Running his thumb over her perfectly plump bottom lip, he tried to convey it was only her that he'd give himself to like this, the only one he'd ever let look into his eyes and see him for who he really was. Yeah he was an asshole but had a genuine heart and it was only Maddie that brought that out the most - sometimes more than his mother. She got to see another side of him. One that had compassion, that could laugh and joke and relax on a Friday night with pizza and beer. When he was with her, he wasn't just a Son, he was a person. She didn't just see him as a leather clad biker covered in tattoos, she saw his soul. He held her in place, looking into her eyes as she gave him her lopsided smile. Clutching onto his forearms as she came, she turned her face in his hand and gave his palm a kiss as he allowed himself to come with her.

That night as she sat at a table playing rummy with her niece and nephew while the men were playing poker at the table next, she glanced at Happy. Giving him a smile and a wink, he returned it with his customary nod letting her know everything was right between them. Gemma pulled up a seat next to her. "I see that you fixed things."

"Yeah, you were right. Sex goes a long way but we did have a talk as well."

"Smart girl finding your own way, you'd make a good old lady."

"Don't have that desire Gem. I'm good where I'm at, I'll leave the old lady thing to you."

**Hope you enjoyed this weeks updates, this will end the daily updates but I will have another chapter up on Monday to go with Ring Finger. **


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Everything in Charming had gone to shit. Gemma was gone, Abel kidnapped, Zobelle free, and now here Maddie sat in the club van waiting for her father while he planned the prospect's funeral. She got out of the van, lighting a cigarette. Piney would give her shit - he had already told her not to leave the van, and she had begged him to come with just to get away from the misery that surrounded the Clubhouse. She looked around and spotted a familiar blond head peeking above one of the gravestones. Making her way over to him, she took a seat beside him and he nodded to her. "What brings you here?"

"With my Pop getting things set for Kip's wake tonight and funeral tomorrow."

Just as she often did with Opie, they sat in silence - not needing to fill the space with meaningless words between them. Despite the fact that they were sitting in a cemetery, there was a homely feeling surrounding them, although Jax's tired face reminded her that the last time she'd seen him this looking so lost and bereft was at his father's funeral.

"I hate this place."

Jax's gaze remained fixated on the ground below him. "It's a cemetery Mad nobody likes it."

Maddie aimlessly pulled a piece of grass from the ground. "I meant Charming."

Still looking at the ground, Jax gave a knowing chuckle. "Ahh, Madelynn Winston's aversion to Charming. Why is that?"

"Because I've seen what it can do, rip a family apart, destroy everything that's good."

Jax lifted his head, and looked at Maddie. He'd heard this spiel from Mary a hundred times before but was surprised to hear Maddie echoing the same thoughts. "Is that your mom talking about the Sons or you talking about a town?"

"Me talking about a town. Most people would like to think that if the Sons were gone, Charming would turn into a quaint little sleepy town, but it wouldn't. It's cursed, haunted by all the souls it's taken. The ones we're sitting by. Have you ever asked yourself Jax why no other charters seem to have the shit surround them like the Redwoods?"

Piney's grouchy tones broke the silence, causing Maddie to jump. "Madelynn I told you to wait your ass in the van" he said approaching them, the grass crunching underneath his rolling gait.

"Jesus Pop, give me a heart attack why don't you? See you tonight Jax" she said, heading to the van to finish her smoke and leave the men to talk.

It had been a long day and longer night. All Maddie wanted to do was go back to the Clubhouse, get drunk and crawl into her dad's dorm room bed alone. Her mother had left the day before all the shit had hit the fan. She however, was stuck at the funeral home until her father or another member gave her a ride back home, hopefully before she had to attend another funeral. She followed her father out of the small chapel with Opie and Lyla in front of him. She turned around to give Happy a knowing wink to signal that she'd be expecting him to join her later. Her eyes were still locked on his when the first shot rang out. He started to lunge towards her and by the time the second shot had been fired, her face was plastered to the concrete underneath Happy who landed heavily on top of her, pushing all the air out her body. When the gunshots ended and the sound of screeching tires filled the air, she lifted her head from his embrace. Foreseeing what was to come, Happy whispered to look away, but it was too late. She watched in mute horror as she heard the sickening 'whump' of David Hale's body being crushed underneath the speeding van.

Sitting on the curb and shivering under her father's green jacket, she had answered all of Unser's questions as if on autopilot and had silently watched as Jax was taken away in handcuffs. Although both her knees were bruised and skinned from the impact of hitting the pavement, she didn't notice.

"Madelynn?"

She looked up at Piney, her green eyes sparkling with tears. "Daddy I want to go home." She hadn't called him that since she was five.

"I'll get Hap to take you back to the clubhouse."

"No, I want to go home, back to Bakersfield. I don't want to be here anymore. Please Pop."

For perhaps the first time in his gruff life, Piney's entire demeanor softened. "Alright baby, but tomorrow. You're stuck here for tonight."

She let her father help her up from the curb and gently help her into the waiting van where Happy sat behind the wheel. The carnage she had seen tonight would stay with her forever. She sat silent as Chibs' old lady got in the back and they all stayed that way as they drove to the Clubhouse. She wasn't worried about her safety, the knowledge that Happy would never let anything happen to her was a security blanket.

On instinct, she waited in the van while Happy checked the area for danger before heading inside, Happy stalking behind her. She went inside while Happy explained the rules to Chibs' girl before he silently led her not to her father's room, but his. Once in the safety of his room she shrugged out of her jacket as he asked his normal line of questioning when it came to her: "You alright?"

"No."

Ushering her into the bathroom he helped her up on the counter and took a look at her scraped knees, which had only just begun to heal from the last time gunfire had caused Happy to push her to the ground. Happy knew she wasn't talking about her scraped knees but he could fix those; her rattled emotional state he wasn't sure about. She winced as the alcohol hit the cuts on her knees.

"Come on let's get you to bed."

"Are you staying?"

"For a little while, I gotta get back to the guys."

She shed her clothes as she walked to the bed and climbed in wearing just her underwear. Happy watched her get settled and sat down in the chair next to the bed because getting into to bed with her would inevitably lead to sex. He didn't have time for that right now, his mind was on getting the bastards that had shot at her. "Was it the same guys? The ones who shot you on the way here?" she said, rolling onto her side and looking at him.

"Yeah, looks like it. You don't have to worry, they won't hit here."

"Hap, they hit a fucking funeral!"

"They did that because they knew we'd all be there. I promise you, you'll be safe here."

"But you're not going to be here?"

"Kozik will, he ain't gonna let shit happen to you. So stop your worrying. Keep your chin up baby girl you're fine."

Maddie wished she had Happy's confidence that it would be ok. "What if I can't? I worry about you, about Pop, about Opie. You guys have rapists after you, guys shooting at you and you don't know why. You've already been shot once this week."

"And I'll probably be shot again, you can't spend your whole life worrying 'bout people who don't need you to. Shut your eyes and go to sleep." Leaning over, he ran a hand down her cheek. She turned into his hand sighing but closing her eyes. She knew he'd be gone as soon as she fell asleep, knew he needed to get back to the rest of the club. She never minded when he left. Yes, she wanted him near her, always making her feel that everything was right in the world, but she didn't bitch when he had to go. She'd grown up around these men and knew what their priorities were: the club first and everything else second. As she drifted off, she felt his hand move away from her. Placing a kiss on her cheek, she was fully asleep before the smell and the comfort of him left the room.

Happy had been up all night, standing vigil outside the jail for Jax to be released. As dawn crept upon them, Piney pulled him aside. "I want you to take Maddie home. Take the van, no colors his time."

"You clear this with Clay?"

"Don't give a shit about Clay and I don't need his okay to make sure my daughter gets home safe."

"You got it old man."

"Get the fuck out of here then."

When Happy broke away from the group, Clay came over to Piney. "Where's he going?"

"Taking Maddie home. I don't need her shot at anymore than twice."

Clay moved so that he was almost nose to nose with Piney. "And we don't need to be a man short right now either" he said jabbing his finger into Piney's chest.

Piney didn't move an inch. "I'll let you make decisions about this club but not my family again."

As the sun broke through the gates of the clubhouse, Maddie was already up, sitting on the bench with her bags neatly stacked on the ground by her feet. Happy pulled up and got off his bike. "You ready to go?" he asked, giving her a wink and grabbing her bags. Nodding, she followed him to the van as he put her stuff in the back.

They spent the first hour in silence, Maddie contemplating the night's events and Happy letting her work her emotions out. "Did you know I dated David Hale?" she asked, breaking the silence. Happy offered no other response beyond a grunt. "He was a couple of years younger than Jax and Op, so a few years older than me. He took me to my senior prom." Maddie shot Happy a sidelong glance. "He was my first, the one who I'd judge all future men against."

"And how am I doing?"

"You're getting there."

That got a chuckle out of him. "Piney know?"

"God no! It was in the back of his caddie the summer I turned 17."

"And why didn't you become Mrs. Hale?"

"He went off to college, only saw him when I came to Charming for the summers. Then I grew up, went off to college myself and stopped coming to charming."

"Why'd you stop coming to Charming?"

"My last summer here was right after I graduated. I was 18 and already accepted into college. I asked Piney if he'd let me stay with him, begged him actually. I was scared to leave home, leave my family. He refused, told me he didn't want me here that he didn't know anything about raising girls. So I figured if he didn't want me full time he didn't get me part time. After Opie married Donna I came back more just for holidays, the kid's birthdays, things like that. I always stayed at Opie's house."

"Well better you didn't become a cop's wife, your pop would have had a heart attack."

"I know that all you guys saw David as just an asshole cop with a hard on for the Sons, but he was nice. He was always sweet to me, opened my doors and shit, would always bring me little surprises when he drove up to see me. He was a good guy, didn't deserve to go out like that."

They descended into silence. The Stockton border loomed ahead of them with the sign reminding them not to pick up hitch-hikers because of the prison nearby. "Can we stop and see Otto?"

"Don't think Piney had that on your agenda."

"Please, I didn't go see him after Luanne, you know to give him my condolences."

"You have to be on the list to see him."

"I am on the list. I'm family, he's my uncle."

Happy looked at her. "Sure he is."

"No he really is! Not like Tig or Bobby and Clay are my uncles, he's my real uncle."

"How's that?"

"Before Luanne he was married to Piney's sister Janice."

"Piney has a sister?"

"Yeah, crazy Aunt Janice, my mother hated her. I think that made me love her more. She used to let us stay up all night watching rated R movies, didn't make us get dressed and always let us eat with our fingers. Said God didn't intend people to have silverware. She was a nut job, should have been committed. Otto loved her though. He was the only one who could deal with her bat shit craziness; used to take showers in the front yard, play show tunes so loud the neighbors would call the cops. God I loved her."

"What happened?"

Maddie looked out the window as Happy made the turn off towards the prison. "Otto came home one day and found her in the bathtub. She had slit her wrists and bled out."

The visitor's room at Stockton was cold and uninviting. The depressing battleship grey walls mirrored the faces of the visitors. There were a number of women bouncing babies on their knee, chatting to men who would probably never get to see their children grow up. Sitting across from Maddie, Otto looked like the shell of the man she'd known growing up. "Maddie baby it's good to see you."

"I'm sorry about Luanne."

"I'm sorry about Donna. How are you handling shit?"

"Had a hell of a week."

"So I heard. What's going there?" He motioned to Happy who was standing stoically off to the side of the room, giving them their privacy.

"What are you talking about?"

"My eyesight maybe shit but he looks like he's going to kill any fuck who dares look at you in here."

Maddie shrugged, trying to dismiss the insinuation. "You'd do the same thing."

"I do it because you're family and I love you, _he's _got the look as if you're property. So? Out with it."

"We're kind of seeing each other" Maddie said, looking down at her nails.

"What the fuck does that mean?"

"Okay we're fucking, have been for almost a year."

"Jesus fuck Maddie! Does Piney know?"

"No! Of course not."

"You know that isn't going to end well."

"I know, I know its stupid - me and Happy, but it works somehow between us. We get along and he's the most normal relationship I've had ever."

"You know he's not the type to settle down? He's not going to give his crow, raise a family with you."

"I don't want that, I don't want his crow. Can you imagine me with kids? Have you met the outstanding example of my parents? I don't want any of that either."

"Club's always going to come first."

"I know that too, I'm okay with that."

"There's going to come a day when you're not though Maddie."

"What should I do then?"

"End it before one of you ends up hurt."

"What if it's too late to do that?"

"Then you ride it out and understand it'll end bloody and bad for both of you."

Maddie left Otto and Happy to talk about club business. She'd always listened to Otto growing up, his advice always sound and genuine. From the time she could drive, she'd gone to visit him on a somewhat regular basis keeping their meetings a secret from her mother. She should have known he'd see what was going on between her and Happy. He hadn't yelled like her father would have done, just told her like it was. She'd never not taken his advice but it was too late to end things with Happy, he'd become her solid ground - the thing that kept her shit in line. When everything around her was chaos, he was the one that fixed it. She needed him too much to let him go now. She threw her cigarette to the ground as Happy emerged. Following him to the van, she watched him as he paused and then went to her door and opened it without saying a word. She got in the front seat smiling to herself. When they were back on the road, he reached into his pocket and threw a bag of M&M's at her. "Here, thought you might be hungry or something."

She had to suppress a giggle at Happy's actions. "Thanks" she said the laughter in her tone obvious.

"Shut up." He continued to stare at the road in front of him but she saw the small smirk tug at the corners of his mouth as she opened the bag of candy.

**A little more back story on Maddie and Happy being sweet. Hope you enjoyed, the mention of Chibs's old lady is from my other story Ring Finger that is running concurrently with this one. The characters from time to time might interact with each other but you dint have to read both story's but I'd like it of course if you did:)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

The morning sun was streaming through the bedroom window, warming Maddie's shoulders as she sat with the sheet wrapped around her naked body. "Hap? Did you steal my lighter again?" she questioned, an unlit cigarette in her hand.

"Check my pants" he called back from the bathroom where he stood in a towel, wiping the excess shaving cream from his freshly shaved head and face.

Once he had gotten Maddie home, they'd spent the last 48 hours in just peace and quiet. They'd visited his mom for an afternoon and Maddie had even dragged Happy to the grocery store. Happy knew he'd be getting a call from Clay soon, there had been information that Hayes had gone into Canada with Abel.

Emerging from the bathroom, still wrapped in a towel, he noticed that Maddie was sitting on the bed staring at an object in her hand. His pants were bunched up next to her. "Maddie..."

She interrupted him, looking up from the row of condoms in her hand. "I guess I should be glad you're wrapping up." They'd had the birth control talk three months into whatever this was between them. She'd been on the pill since the age of 18 and she'd agreed to go without protection on the stipulation that he get tested and use protection if he was going to be with other women. She didn't know if he'd been with other girls - she had expected it but it was different finding proof. They'd never said they were exclusive but she hadn't been with anyone besides him since that first time in her kitchen. She knew this was the way of life with the Sons; with the leather and the bike, pussy flowed like water.

"Listen Mad..."

She raised her hand to stop him. "I'm not stupid Hap, I know about the other girls. I've seen Dad and Opie with enough women to know they never sleep alone. And it's not like we're a couple or anything right?" She took the condoms and put them back in his pocket. "I just don't want to know about it, I don't want it thrown in my face either."

"You sure about this Maddie? If you got something to say on it, now's the time. I'm not gonna have you bitch at me about it later."

"I'm good, I'm not going to ask you to marry me, or for your crow. I've got no desire to be an old lady. I like what we have now just fine and I want to keep it that way. So you can fuck everything from here to Charming and back to Tacoma, I just don't want to see or smell it. Got it?"

He stepped toward the bed. "You're my only girl in Bakersfield."

She laughed at that. "I'm not sure if that is supposed to make me feel better."

"It should, you know how many people live in Bakersfield?"

"No, do you?"

"Yeah I pass by the sign enough fucking times. There's 347,483 people and half of them got to be women so that's 173,741 girls I could fuck and I'm only with you baby girl."

She let out a full laugh. "Jesus Christ Hap you sure are full of yourself! What makes you think 173,741 women would want to fuck you?"

Happy climbed on the bed, pulling the sheet away from her naked body."I don't give a shit about them, I only care that you want to baby girl. No other bitch has what you have Maddie, can't even hold a candle to what you got." Leaning in and capturing her lips in his, she wrapped her arms around his neck. As he grabbed her waist and pulled her flush with him, his towel fell off revealing sleak muscles rippling under ink.

"Fuck Hap..." she panted, breaking the kiss. "A normal girl wouldn't find that appealing but I'm fucking turned on! What the fuck is wrong with me?"

"Nothing baby girl you're fuckin perfect. How do you want it? Soft and sweet or hard and rough?"

"Hard and rough" she said, nipping at his neck and gasping as he grabbed the back of her thighs and rolled her on her back. Spreading her legs wider, she pushed up to meet his hips. As he pushed into her she cried out "and then soft and sweet!"

"Greedy little bitch" he grunted, slamming into her.

"Only for you Hap. Fuck that's good." Her breath was stolen away by the force of him slamming into her again.

She lay breathless underneath his sweaty body, their bodies still connected. She could feel Happy's ribs expanding as he breathed deeply, sucking in great lungfuls of air. He had taken what he wanted and given her what she needed. Rough at first and then tenderly, looking into her eyes kissing her softly. She had clung onto his back, digging in where her nails had already raked red welts. He had had her screaming his name then slowly panting it out, holding his gaze. The intensity of the physical contact the first time mirrored the emotional connection the second time. She could have stayed like that with him all day if it hadn't been for the sound of bikes in the distance. "Fuck" was all he said, removing himself from her and scrambling for their clothes.

Maddie had just thrown her hair up into a messy ponytail and was in the kitchen grabbing stuff to make breakfast when she heard her father's key hit the lock and his voice call out "Maddie?"

"In the kitchen Pop!" she shouted, trying to keep the flush down on her cheeks as she thought about the morning she had just shared with Happy. "Hi, what brings you all the way out here?" she asked as her father came into the kitchen.

"Needed to talk to Hap."

"He's still in his room. Oh I didn't know I'd have a full house today" she commented as the remaining members of the club made their way into her small kitchen.

"Hap!" Tig shouted "get your lazy ass up. Whatcha making doll face?" he asked, leaning over Maddie's shoulder as she started working on the pancake mix.

"Pancakes and eggs, you guys hungry?"

"When are we not hungry love?" Chibs said taking a seat.

"That's why we came by here sweetheart, get some food in our stomachs" Clay said, coming up behind her and giving her a hug.

"I have some extra chairs in the garage."

"I'll get them" Opie grumbled, avoiding having to greet Maddie.

"Fuck Maddie, these are fucking good!" Tig groaned, helping himself to another pancake from the stack in the middle of the table. Since her dining area was full of bikers chowing down on pancakes, Maddie was forced to eat her breakfast standing at the kitchen counter. "You should let me come look in on you, Happy's an asshole and don't deserve this" Tig said through a mouthful of pancake.

"Don't I know it Tig" Maddie commented, giving Happy a private wink.

"You know who else loves Mad's pancakes? My kids" Opie said, looking at Maddie and speaking to her for the first time. "Haven't had them for a while, not since Aunt Maddie bailed on them just like their grandma."

Maddie locked eyes with Opie. "From what I hear, you got yourself a fucking whore looking after them. I'm sure she can make pancakes as good as she sucks dick for a living." The guys in the room let out a collective hiss. "Is that what gets you off now Op? Her taking care of your kids and then deep throating some random guy? You like to watch or do you participate too?"

"You fucking little bitch, she's not a fucking whore."

Maddie pressed on, knowing that she had hit a sore spot. "Oh sorry she's a 'porn star'. She has a legitimate reason to have the smell of cum on her breath."

"At least she ain't spreading them for free! How many guys is it this month Maddie? You know why they don't stick around? Because you're a fucking cunt."

Maddie lunged at Opie, but he saw her coming and stood up beyond her reach. Jax was up out of his seat in an instant to intervene, grabbing Maddie before she got to Opie and holding her by her waist. Piney thumped the table and shouted "God dammit Madelynn cool it!"

"Fuck you Opie and fuck you too Pop. He's always right, it's always me who's in the wrong - not your precious baby boy. Just once Pop how bout you stick up for me?"

Jax broke the Winston stand off by shouting "Sit the fuck down Op, and Piney shut your mouth we ain't here for this family shit." Turning Maddie around and seeing her face red with rage, Jax spoke more gently. "Maddie we need to talk to Hap about business. Why don't you take some time, calm down, make yourself scarce."

"Fine!" she said, still seething with anger. "Let me just get my work and I'll leave you guys alone." Grabbing her computer from the kitchen, she headed out towards the back patio door. Kicking open the door, she turned around. "See Opie I have legitimate work to do that doesn't involve a dick up my ass."

"Yeah really good Madelynn, you read other people's shit and tell them if it's good or not. Really living your fucking dream of being a writer."

"At least I don't have to wash the cum stains out of my work clothes at the end of the day." At that last insult, Opie went to stand but Jax put his hand on him to keep him in place. Maddie closed the door but she still heard him mumble. With a big smile on her face, she gave him the finger.

"Fucking bitch"

Once they had updated Happy on the trip to Toronto, the rest of the men made their way out front to wait while Happy packed. Jax stopped Opie before he could join the rest of the men out front. Motioning to where they could see Maddie sitting on her patio smoking and enjoying the California sun he spoke to Opie. "You going to fix shit with her?"

"I don't even know where to begin to do that."

"She loves you Op and you and I both know her leaving Charming was the right thing to do. You needed to get your head out of your ass and you weren't going to do it while she was still there picking up the pieces."

"I know, pisses me off when she's right. But that doesn't give her the right to judge what the fuck I'm doing with Lyla."

"Just talk to her, she's fucking family. She's your sister Opie, you two have been stuck with each other your whole lives and always will be. I wish I still had Thomas around - someone to talk with about all the shit going on right now. Someone to help me get my head out of my ass."

"Well if you want to borrow Maddie, you're welcome to. She'll get your shit sorted."

"Nah I don't feel like being yelled at by a five foot three feisty red head."

Maddie was pissed, pissed she was hurt. Hurt that some of the shit her brother had said was true. She had left high school with the hopes of being Ernest Hemingway and now all she did was review fucking manuscripts of other authors who were doing what she had failed to do. Every time she sat down to write, the voices in her head would start in telling her she wasn't good enough and she'd make a failure out of herself so it was easier not to even try. She hadn't written anything but a college paper since high school. She heard the back door open. Thinking it was Happy telling her he was leaving, she turned with a smile which faded when she saw Opie come out. She turned her back to him as he walked over to her.

"Can I take a seat?"

"Depends on if you're here to say some more mean bullshit to me."

"I'm not."

"So sit then."

"Before I do, are going to say more shit about Lyla?"

"Maybe."

He sat down anyway. "Fuck Maddie I don't know what to say without causing another fight with you."

"Just say you're an asshole and you're sorry."

"I'm an asshole and I'm sorry."

"Do you even know what you're sorry for?"

"Because I was a dick when you left Charming. Even though it needed to be done, I was being a prick. But the shit I got going with Lyla, you got to lay off Mad."

"Jesus you really like her?"

"Yeah, she's nice the kids like her. They needed someone, I needed someone."

"So it doesn't to bother you she's a porn star?"

"Bothers the fuck out of me. Bothers me that you're fucking right most the time. But not about Lyla, she's good for me right now, good for the kids."

"Bothers me when you're right too" she said, lighting a smoke and passing it to him when she saw his pack was empty.

"I wasn't right. I shouldn't have said any of that shit to you. You're not Ma."

"No you were right, I'm doing nothing with my life, I've fucked it all up."

"Christ Maddie you're fucking 25! You got plenty of time to do the shit you want. Get married, have some kids, have the life you want."

"Op, do you know why I've been with so many different guys? I've never found one that I could bring home to you and Pop without thinking they're going to run for the hills as soon as we leave Charming. Do you know how hard to is being a girl growing up around the club? How would you and the rest of the guys react if I brought some guy home in a suit and tie?"

"We'd give him shit but Maddie if he loved you, he'd take you as you are."

"I guess I can't blame it all on you and Pop, maybe it's because I don't want that shit. I don't want the marriage and the kids. I don't want someone that's going to try and change me, be tied down with a family. I feel like there's something wrong with me for not wanting that but even when I was little, I couldn't understand the other little girls dreaming of their wedding day. I couldn't ever picture it you know; the white dress, flowers, cake. That's why the guys don't stay because they think there's something wrong with me because I don't want that. Do you think there's something wrong with me?"

"There's a lot of shit wrong with you Mad but that's not one. If you don't want that life then don't do it just 'cause you think that's what you're supposed to do. I married Donna because I loved her had the kids because I wanted that life with her."

"I missed you Op" Maddie sighed.

"I'm sorry Maddie, we good?"

"Yeah, never weren't good just got off track, both of us did. I'm sorry I left Charming like that. I should've talked to you I just didn't know how to get through to you."

"You know why I love you Maddie?"

"Because you called me a fucking cunt and I didn't stab you?" She winked at him, relieved that they were continuing their normal game.

"No, because you take my shit and give it right back. Put me in my place, that comment about me participating in porn was good" Opie laughed.

Maddie laughed too. "You weren't too bad yourself but you say I'm like Ma again, I will knife you."

"And you give me the finger again and I'll break it." Laughing, he stood up as Happy came outside signaling it was time to go. "I love you Maddie" he said, pulling her up in his arms and wrapping her in a bear hug.

"I love you to Op."

"Time to go brother" Happy said, approaching the two. "I'm leaving some of my shit here. I don't know when I'll be back, probably a couple of days."

"Yeah sure you can leave it here. See you in a couple of days then" she said, trying to act nonchalant that he was leaving her even though she wanted to beg him to stay. Following them inside, she called "Have a safe trip" as they went through the door.

"See ya Maddie" Happy called back, shutting the front door.

Maddie made her way down the hallway and was surprised to see Tig come out from the bathroom. "They're going to leave without you Tiggy, better hurry."

"Hey doll face?" he said, stopping her in the hallway, "If you're going to pretend Happy is sleeping in that spare bedroom, you might want to mess up the bed or close the door if your pop or Opie come over, cause there no way that asshole, made that bed."

At his words, her face fell "Tig..."

He held his hands up. "Don't worry doll I ain't going to spill the beans on your dirty little secret. But shit, you sure you want to mess around with Hap?"

"It's the only thing I am sure of right now."

"Alright but you know when Piney and Opie find out, it's not going to be pretty. And Clay ain't going to like it, pussy causing a shit storm with the club."

"I know and that's why you're going to keep your mouth shut."

"Lips are sealed."

Tig left her in the hallway and went out to his bike. Happy, who was packing his saddle bag suddenly swore.

"What?" Clay asked as Happy stood up.

"I forgot my knife inside."

"Go get it, we'll wait."

"Nah go ahead. I'll catch up" he said, heading back inside. He found Maddie still in the hallway.

She smiled at him. "Forget something?"

He pushed her up against the wall. "Yeah. When I get back, me and you are gonna take my bike and head up the coast, spend a couple a days. Decided I want you to be my fuck in other cities" He kissed her neck, teeth grazing her skin.

"Real romantic Hap" she gasped, his lips greedily still attached to her neck.

"As good as I can do. You know you like it or you wouldn't be coming back for more."

"God I know." She knew what he was doing: wanting to spend some time with her before he went inside. They stood in the hallway looking at each other, neither of them wanting to broach the subject of what was going to happen between them when he did go away. It was Happy who looked away first.

"Keep your chin up baby girl" he said, pulling away from her and going to the front door.

He walked to his bike Tig still parked outside. "You get everything you need."

He grabbed his helmet, straddling his bike. "Yeah."

"You know that shit ain't going to end well right?"

"Yeah I know." The rumble of his bike drowned out Tig's cackle of laughter.

**I know it might seem like Maddie is dismissive of Happy's need for other women but that's how I see her. And now her and Opie have made up and Tig now knows there secret. Hope you all enjoyed! **


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

Maddie spent the next two days working. She never got much done with Happy around and she was behind enough that her boss had called her into a personal meeting to discuss expectations. She settled into a warm tub. Her iPod was turned on, a margarita sat on the edge of the tub and she had a warm washcloth over her face. She was lost in the music but still recognized the sound of booted feet on her tile floor. She removed the wash cloth and looked up as Happy walked towards her, a tired expression on his face. He took a seat on the closed toilet next to the tub and faced her.

"Hey, I wasn't expecting you for another day or so."

"Didn't make it to Toronto, found out Abel's in Ireland." He recounted what had happened with Gemma and the call from Maureen.

"So you're going to Ireland?"

"Yeah we leave tomorrow morning, just came to get my stuff. Gotta head back to the Clubhouse and get shit ready there."

"So I take it we're not taking a trip up the coast then?"

"Sorry baby girl."

"It's fine, you go get Abel that's what's important. We'll go when you get back."

"Yeah that'd be good." Happy didn't have the heart to tell her he'd probably be going straight to jail when they got back.

She sat up in the tub, noticing the new white patch on his kutte. "You patched Redwood?"

"They're short on guys right now, needed me. Gun running makes a lot more money than being nomad"

"And a lot more blood. Thought you went nomad to see your mom more, how's that going to happen if you're stuck in Charming?"

"I'll see my ma. Clay's not going to stop me from that."

"But not as much, I thought Bakersfield was going to be your home base when you weren't on the road. It's going to be like when you were patched at Tacoma; coming into town so infrequently, staying one night and then going for months. Your Mom needs you."

"This about my ma or about you Maddie? Cause it sounds like you're the one with the problem. Ma knows the life I lead. You gettin attached?"

She stood up and yanked a towel from the nearby rack, wrapped it around her and got out of the tub. "You know what Happy? For being so good in the bedroom, you're a real asshole when you're out of it. I fucking like it when you're here okay? And I fucking miss you when you're gone. Are you happy now asshole?"

"Hey!" He grabbed her arm as she went to walk away. "What the fuck Mad? Don't get all bitchy with me. If it's you that has a problem with me patching Redwood, then fucking say it! Don't fucking bring my ma into it."

"Okay I want you here. I'm happy when you're here with me. I don't want you to fucking go to Ireland and I sure as shit don't want you go to prison. I'm fucking scared that when you get out, we're not going to have this anymore. I'm scared if I tell you shit about how I really feel, you're going to bail on me. I don't love you Hap, but I fucking like you being a constant in my life. I need you."

He stood up from his seat, her wrist still in his hand. Pulling her to him, he wrapped her up in his arms. "Maddie I ain't going anywhere. I'm right here with you, everything's gonna be the same with us when I get out."

Relishing in the feel of his arms wrapped around her and the soft leather of his kutte against her cheek, she still couldn't shake the fear that she was about to lose what they had. "You don't know that Hap."

"You're right, I can't see the future but I like coming here and being with you. You make a killer breakfast."

She giggled against him, knowing he'd never admit that he liked her too. "Is that all?"

"Don't know why else I'd keep coming around. Listen, how about I leave in the morning and tonight we order pizza. I'll even let you pick the movie."

Dawn had just begun to break when he slipped out of her bed. Dressing quietly, not wanting to wake her, he leaned over and lightly kissed her naked back. She stirred and looked up at him. In the early morning Happy's voice had a sandpaper rasp. "Go back to sleep, I'll see you in a couple of days."

It was a week later before she heard his bike pull up. From her spot on the patio, Maddie knew he'd come to her but she also knew it was his last night of freedom. She'd been updated by a phone call from Opie that they had gotten Abel back and the guys were headed to jail. She had hoped he would come sooner but knew he'd want to say goodbye to his mom first. The early afternoon storm had passed and a cool breeze was lifting the coppery wisps that had come loose from her braid. Her heart fluttered when she heard the patio door slide open. Without turning around she spoke, "Is this you coming to say goodbye?"

"Yeah, I..."

She put her hand up to stop him. Standing up she went to him, leaning up and kissing him. "I don't want to talk about it, let's just enjoy the night and forget all about tomorrow. Did you eat?" Happy nodded. "Good because I don't want to waste a minute." Her lips crashed on to his as he scooped her up and carried her back inside. She quickly undressed and scrambled on the bed, waiting for him to finish undressing. He crawled up her naked body devouring every inch as he went with his mouth and hands. She spread her legs for him, allowing him to rest himself between her as he captured her lips in his. As his tongue invaded her parted lips, she felt him hard against her. Staring into her eyes, he entered her slowly. Gasping, her hands clutched his sides and he felt the muscles underneath him move as her body flowed with his. The intensity of his gaze too much to bear, Maddie turned her head to the side and closed her eyes, concentrating on remembering the feel of him.

"Maddie baby girl, look at me" he whispered in her ear. His normal gruff tone had a sweet quality to it at that moment. She snapped her eyes open, turning her head to look up at him again. Leaning on one arm, he brought his hand up to her face and cupped it. "I wanna remember those eyes, those sweet perfect fucking lips." Running his thumb over her bottom lip, he leaned in and kissed her. "Oh Hap" she moaned between their open mouths as she returned his kiss. A kiss that remained until they came together.

That night Maddie forced herself to stay awake. There'd be plenty time to sleep. She wanted to savor the feel of him sleeping next to her, the feel of his hand placed protectively on her hip as she lay with her back to him. Listening to the sounds of him breathing next to her, she tried to soak up the warmth and safety she felt in the moment, trying to take a mental picture of him being in her bed. When the sun started to come up, she felt him stir beside her. "Did you get any sleep?"

She rolled over on her side to face him. "Not really, do you have time for breakfast?"

"Nah got to be at Gemma's house. You should've slept" he commented as she yawned, snuggling in closer to him. Unlike her, he had relished sleeping next to her. He knew it'd be a long time before he'd get a comfortable sleep again. Glad he'd spent his last night here with her, he took in the comfort of her body next to his, the smell of her sheets that now smelled like sex.

He dressed quickly and she followed him out to his bike. The sky was still blue with dawn as he pulled her into his arms roughly, wanting the feel of her against him. He felt her small hand grip his biceps, clinging to him. He pulled back, kissing her long and slow and when he pulled back, he could see the tears starting to form in her eyes. It killed him that there was nothing he could do take this pain away from her. "Gemma's gonna transfer money to you for my ma. Make sure she takes her pills."

"I will." Nodding to him, he pulled away from her grasp. When he saw her bottom lip tremble, he wanted nothing but to stay there with her but he had a job to do. "Keep your chin up baby girl."

She only had the energy to give him one brave nod before he started his bike and took off down the street. Maddie held herself together until she heard him turn off her street, making it to her porch before collapsing in a puddle of tears. She hadn't wanted to do this in front of him, didn't want to make it harder on him having to leave. Didn't want to show him how much she was hurting because she couldn't show that weakness, even to him.

**Thanks for all the wonderful reviews and follows hope you enjoyed.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Maddie spent the first week of Happy's absence throwing herself into her work, telling herself he was just on the road and he'd come through her door soon. That worked well for her until week three when she started to feel like an addict suffering from withdrawals. She spent week four in tears and by week five she had developed a dull ache in her heart that she thought would probably remain for the rest of the 13 months without him.

The older woman's voice broke through her trance. "Madelynn are you still with me?"

She jumped at the sound of the voice, clutching the book that had threatened to fall off her lap. "Sorry Rosa, where were we?"

"You were just getting to the good part" Rosa Lowman said, winking at her and motioning to the dirty book in Maddie's hands. "Honey what's got you all flustered?"

"It's only been four months Rosa, how am I going to get through the next ten? I fucking worry about him constantly since Jax got shanked" Maddie huffed in frustration.

"Then go see him Maddelynn. He'll tell you he's fine and you'll feel better."

"You know I can't, the other guys will know and that would cause too many questions. My pop and brother would find out about it. Besides, you have to be on the visitor list and there's no way he's going to agree to that."

"And that's why you should just tell your pop about you and Happy."

"He'd kill me and him both, it's not like Happy is just some regular guy. It's different with the club being involved."

"Trust me I know my Happy is no regular guy. But why should you suffer?"

"Rosa even if I wanted to tell Pop about us, I wouldn't because of the total shit storm it would cause for Hap with the club. I'm the daughter of one of the founding members, there's a whole level of respect that both of us are breaking. But I can't change the way I feel about him and it hurts with him gone. I didn't tell him how important he was to me. I just stood there in my driveway and let him go. I should have run after him and told him that I'd wait for him or that I'd miss him or something."

"Honey he knows those things."

"What if he doesn't and what if I don't get my chance again, what do I do Rosa?" she cried, dropping her head forward and resting it on the side of the bed.

Rosa stroked the troubled girl's hair with her frail hand, trying to sooth her. Maddie sighed and took in the comfort. She had grown fond of this woman since the first time she had come to visit her. Rosa had become her surrogate mom, giving her what her real mother couldn't: peace and understanding. She'd been open and honest with Rosa from the beginning about her and Happy, and she was someone - the only one she could talk to and get advice. She reminded Maddie of a sweet old grandma but with a little sass. To be the mother of Happy Lowman you'd have to have a little fight in you. She knew where her son's faults were and called him out on it if he needed it but she loved him and took him for who he was. "Well if you can't go see him, why don't we do the next best thing?"

Maddie lifted her head up. "What's that?"

"We can write him. You write a letter to him and make it look like the first page is from me. Then we'll send it in my name, just sneak your letter in between mine and everyone will just think it's a letter from his old senile Ma. Now let's stop all this worrying and you get back to reading. I think someone's bodice was just about to be ripped open." Rosa gave a wink to the red head who returned her smile.

"God Rosa I wish you were my mom growing up."

"Ah but then you couldn't be with my son and I think you're good for him, good for both of us. Now read."She read to Rosa until the woman drifted off to sleep snoring quietly as Maddie took the pen and paper that sat by her bedside and began to write to Happy. The first part was easy, she filled it with motherly concern, updating Happy on her health and the distasteful food at the nursing home. Maddie signed the bottom with Rosa's name and moved on to the harder task of starting her part of the letter. For ten minutes, she sat debating on how to even address Happy. Once she started, she kept it short and to the point - just like their relationship.

_Hap,_

_The morning you left I didn't realize how much I would miss you. Dammit, I fucking miss you, I can't imagine the next 10 months of feeling this way. Sometimes just before I wake up, I think I hear you in the kitchen or feel you lying next to me. But then I wake up and the bed's empty and you're not there. I start thinking about what you're doing at that exact moment, and my head gets lost in panic that something has happened to you, so I call Opie to fish for confirmation that you're okay. I think he's getting sick of my morning phone calls. I need you to just tell me you're fine, that it's going to be okay. I just need you more than I thought I would. I was stupid to not realize the effect you've had on my life and how accustomed I'd grown to having you around to make all the bad shit go away. I should have told you all of this that morning. I should have told you all the things I was worried about. I'm terrified that when you get out it's not going to be the same with us, that you're going to realize how fucked up I really am. Please be safe, be careful, please come back to me._

She didn't sign it, she didn't doubt that he'd know whom it was from. She knew there were other girls but none would be brave enough to write to him or involve his mother. His mother was so off limits he'd even been hesitant to have Maddie visit her at first, but he'd been stuck in Tacoma when his mother had fallen really ill. It was only after Rosa had professed to like her that he had allowed Maddie regular visits. She placed Rosa's fictitious letter on top of hers, folding them together. On her way out of the nursing home she grabbed an envelope, addressed it to Happy and put it in the mailbox.

"Anything?" Maddie asked, walking into Rosa's room. Dropping her bag on the floor, she took a seat next to Rosa's bed.

The look of disappointment that crossed Maddie's features yet again tugged at Rosa's heart. She shook her head sadly. "Sorry no."

It had been three months since she had written Happy and now three times a week when she visited Rosa she asked the same question and always received the same answer. Happy had not responded, giving no indication that he had even gotten the letter or gave a shit about her words. She felt like an idiot, she had bared her soul to him, tried to convey what he really meant to her and he didn't even respond. "Maybe he didn't get it" she stated, trying to push back the thought of him laughing at her words. Her fears began to spin out of control as she envisioned Happy showing it to Tig and having a good laugh about Maddie's heartfelt words which blatantly fished for Happy to admit he felt the same about her. Maddie closed her eyes, trying to will the imagery to leave her. "But it didn't come back."

"No honey it didn't."

"So then he probably got it?"

"Maybe, but Maddelynn you know Happy isn't one for writing or sharing. Did you expect him to respond?"

"I did. I thought if it was me asking, I would hope he'd go out of his acceptable boundaries just this once. I'm so stupid Rosa."

"Your not stupid honey, he cares about you- the same as you care about him. He's just going to convey it in a different way than writing you a love letter."

"I'm not expecting a love letter, just a line or two."

"Maddelynn you've got seven months before he gets out. You shouldn't spend all your time working, hanging out with an old ass woman, and worrying about Happy. You need to get out more honey. Go hang out with people your own age. Figure out what it is you're doing and what you want in your life for the future. Create your own expectations and be with people who live up to that."

"So what you're saying is I shouldn't be spending that time pining away for Hap."

"Honey you got a lot of years ahead of you to pine away for some guy regardless if it is my son or someone else. Now the mother part in me wants to tell you to stay put but the woman in me wants you to go out and live your life.

Maddie pulled out the key that was still marked with an O and a D and put it in the lock. When it stuck and didn't turn, she pounded on the door until Opie wrenched it open. "My key doesn't work?" she half grumbled and half questioned as she bypassed him, putting Kenny's birthday cake on the kitchen counter.

"Sorry Lyla changed the locks."

"So what, I'm no longer allowed to just come into your house?"

"No, I'll get you a new one, what's in the box?"

"Kenny's birthday cake."

"Oh, did you talk to Lyla? She already got him one, it's in the garage fridge."

"No I didn't think I had to clear it with anyone, I've always gotten the kid's cakes. It's from the same bakery I got his first birthday cake from. It's a tradition Op, since when do I have to clear family traditions with someone who's not family?"

"Maddie don't start, I'm marrying Lyla in 5 months just as soon as the guys get out. She's family enough."

She grabbed the cake off the counter and went out to the back yard with Opie following her. Yanking the lid off, she threw the cake in the dumpster. "Next time I'll make sure to clear it with the new Mrs. Winston."

"Maddie, please."

"I never had to clear anything with Donna."

"Lyla's not Donna."

"Got that right" she huffed, going back inside. Kenny and Ellie walked through the front door carrying pizzas for the party, with Lyla behind them. "There's my birthday boy!" Maddie exclaimed, grabbing Kenny in her arms, tickling him and planting kisses all over the face as he tried to squirm out of her hold. "So kid are we going to have our usual slumber party? Stay up late watching scary movies then crashing on the couch after our all day sugar buzz?"

"Uhm my sister is in town and she's taking the couch. Opie and I thought you could stay with Piney" Lyla said, standing next to Opie.

Opie put his arm around Lyla. "Lyla's sister doesn't know anyone here and Pop has a lot more room than we do now Piper is sharing a room with Kenny. We had to move the bunk beds in there so we really don't have the spare room."

"Sure whatever" Maddie said, biting out the words.

The birthday party for Kenny wasn't the usual Samcro party since most of the guys were locked up. Piney was there and Chibs, who brought his old lady and three month old baby. Gemma came with Tara, Abel and newborn Thomas. As the day turned into night and Kenny and Ellie disappeared to play video games, Maddie took the opportunity to make her good byes. Kissing the kids goodbye she went to Opie who was out back. "Hey I'm going to take off."

"You headed to Pop's already? Thought you'd stick around a little longer, have a drink with me."

"No, I'm just going to head back to Bakersfield tonight."

"Maddie don't do that. I'm sorry, I should've told you Lyla's sister was going to be here, please stay. We'll put Ellie in a sleeping bag on the floor."

"No it's fine. I was going to have to leave early tomorrow anyway. I got a shit ton of work to get done."

"Maddie I'm sorry about the cake thing, I wasn't thinking."

"Op it's fine."

"You know why I love you Maddie?"

"Because I'm so pretty I make you look good?"

"No, because even with how pissed you are right now, you still tell me it's fine."

"I'm not pissed Opie, just kinda feel left out of things."

"Why don't you try with Lyla? Might make you feel more connected. If she felt like she could talk to you, I'm sure she would reach out in the future for the kid's parties."

"I don't think I'm ready for a friendship with a porn star yet. Even if you're okay with it, I'm not there just yet." She let him hug her, leaning up and kissing him on the cheek.

When she went inside, she found Lyla in the kitchen. "I'm taking off."

"Maddie listen I think we've gotten off on the wrong foot. I didn't know about the cake thing, Opie didn't say anything."

"It's fine, you don't really know how this family works, you're too new to it." Maddie tried her hardest to take the snideness out of her voice but couldn't. Here was this woman who was taking Donna's place and hers as well.

"I really care about Opie and the kids. I know you had a good relationship with Donna and I'd like us to have the same. Maybe we could grab lunch or coffee?"

"I don't think so."

"Maddie I'm just trying. I know I'm not Donna and I don't want to even try to replace her. But I want us to at least get along."

"You're right you're not even close to Donna. And just because you're marrying my brother doesn't mean much to me. You're just filling the void he has right now, nothing more. I think he could do better and so could the kids. You're just a whore who saw a good meal ticket."

"You don't even know me!" Lyla shouted in a hurt voice.

"And I don't want to either" Maddie scoffed, leaving the hurt looking blonde in the kitchen.

She went to grab her bags from the floor as Gemma grabbed her by the arm. "That was a little harsh don't you think Maddie?"

"God Gemma not you too! I thought I could at least count on you not jumping on the whore bandwagon. Aren't you the one that called me when they started dating begging me to come fix it and get rid of her?"

"I was wrong. She's a good girl, she's stepped up with this house and kids, loves Opie."

"Gemma for her to do the things she does she has to be a mess emotionally, she's a whore."

"Luanne was a whore and that never bothered you."

"Luanne wasn't stepping in and raising my niece and nephew." She opened the door, bag in hand and shut it on Gemma's disapproving face, ending the conversation.

Sighing as she stepped out on the darkened porch, she jumped when she heard the voice next to her. "Ya leaving the party early lass?"

Placing a hand on her heart to settle her nerves, she turned to see Chibs calmly smoking a cigarette. Maddie gave him a small smile. "Yeah all kidded out."

"Ya headed ta your pop's house?"

"No, I'm going back to Bakersfield tonight."

"That's a long drive, ya should stay."

"Chibs I make this drive all the time, I'll be fine. Besides it doesn't look like I fit here anymore."

"Why would ya say that?"

"My key doesn't work to this house, I've been kicked off my couch and there's a woman walking around my brother's house that shouldn't be here."

"Aye things change for the better or for the worse but they always change."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"No, no it doesn't. But ya do have ta move forward with it. Ya still fit in with your family love, it's harder on ya cause you're not around a lot so the changes seem new."

"Are you saying I should come around more? It was so easy with Donna, she would have called me a month ago and planned Kenny's party. I felt welcomed here."

"Ya can feel that way again. And you're always welcome in my home love."

"Thanks Chibs" she said, giving the Scott a long hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Cute kid by the way, you caught yourself a real looker."

"Aye, I'm a lucky guy, she's smart too."

"She'd have to be to choose you."

Maddie woke up alone again, dreading opening her eyes to see the empty space beside her. Spending the quiet morning by herself as well as the afternoon, she dreaded the night alone. She picked up her phone and called Monica, a writer she worked with who was constantly trying set her up with her brother. She hesitated briefly before telling Monica why she was calling and finally agreeing to go out on the date. Rosa had been right, she needed to figure shit out before Happy got out. She still hadn't heard from him and that stung. The party at Opie's house had brought to light how alone she really was and if only to prove it to herself, she would go out on this date and have a good time. It wasn't like her and Happy were exclusive, he had never told her that she couldn't see other people. Still, when she pulled up to the restaurant that same night, she felt a twinge of guilt.

**Thank you all again for you wonderful reviews. The mention of Chibs's old lady is from my other story Ringfinger that runs in conjunction with this one. If you want check it out while the two OC's don't really interact some of the actions in the future might mak more sense.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Maddie stood next to Gemma, antsy and waiting for the sound of bikes. She sucked in her bottom lip, chewing on the corner of it. Gemma reached across and slapped Maddie lightly on the arm. "Stop it, you're making me nervous."

"Sorry Gem it's just I haven't seen or heard from him in 14 months. I'm not sure what to do when he gets here. I know I can't do anything with Opie and Pop here but I don't even know what to say to him."

"Just follow his lead" she said, her face breaking out in a smile as the sound of bikes approached.

Maddie stood back and let all the families rejoin one another, watching the brothers all happy to be back together as one unit again. She got hugs from Tig, Bobby, and Jax, and even Clay scooped her up. She made her way through the crowd and found herself standing in front of Happy. The awkwardness that had never been there was suddenly prevalent.

"Didn't know you'd be here" he said after hesitating with his words.

"Yeah, I came in early for Op's wedding" she stumbled looking down at the ground.

"Good, how's Ma?"

"Good. She misses you, wants to see you."

"Yeah, I'll head up to see her" he said, starting to walk away at Clay's call for church. "Thanks for looking in on her."

"Sure" was all she said to his now turned back. Maddie tipped her head skyward and closed her eyes, sighing in frustration at how awful that had been. Other than her taking care of his mother, he had barely even acknowledged her. Angry tears prickled her eyes and she fiercely blinked them away. She felt like a damn fool, she had pretty much bared her soul in that letter and all she had gotten was a half hearted thanks. His surprise that she'd been there when he returned home had stung too, as if she didn't have the right. Gemma stopped her on her way to her car. "You not staying for the party sweetheart?"

"No, not really in a party mood and I really don't want to watch him take some slut back to his dorm room. I've had enough self-inflicted punishment today."

She got back to her father's cabin and chain smoked as she made dinner. Looking at the pile of ingredients, it was clear that there was too much food for just herself but she had planned on someone joining her. She had come to Charming two days earlier to get the cabin ready, telling her pop that she wanted to stay out there as it was too crowded at Opie's house. Wanting to make this place a love nest for Happy, the cabin was cleaner than it had been in years. Hoping they'd have sometime alone to get reacquainted, there were fresh sheets on the kingsize bed and the fridge was stocked with beer and food. Now as she stood alone cooking for one, she just felt stupid for it.

At the thump of the gavel, Happy left church and headed out to his bike. Seeing Gemma, standing next to her car, he nodded to her. "You not stickin around?" he asked her.

Gemma gave a snort of derision. "Hell no! I'm going home to be with my man." Gemma watched Happy scan the parking lot and a small smirk tugged at the corner of her mouth. "She already left"

"Who?"

"Maddie."

As the club assassin, Happy had one hell of a poker face. Fixing his coal black stare on Gemma he gave a small shrug. "Ain't looking for her. I'm headed out to see my Ma."

_"Yeah right, nice try killa" _Gemma thought. Out loud she said "On your way out of town can you check on Maddie? I just want to make sure she's alright."

"Why's that?"

"She's staying all by herself out at the cabin."

"She not staying with Opie?"

"No, I guess she wanted some privacy."

"She's a big girl Gemma, she don't need checking on" Happy said, walking to his bike.

Maddie grabbed a beer from the fridge and slumped into the worn out couch in the living room. She stared down at the stupid blue sun dress she had bought for today. It was low cut, linen and clung in all the right places, bringing out her auburn locks. Self-doubt racked her and she hated hating that she'd had essentially wasted the 14 months waiting for something that wasn't going to happen. That one date had ended with a hand shake at her car and no return phone call. Rosa was right to tell her to figure out what she wanted and she had found out that she wanted him, only now he didn't want her. The thing that hurt the most was that she had lost something important in her life.

At the sound of a bike approaching, she turned her head towards the door. It was probably Opie wanting her help with wedding bullshit or Piney who, true to form, had told her he didn't have time to be worried about her and that she was being stupid for refusing Opie's couch. Getting up lazily, she made her way to the open front door and pulled the screen door open with a squeak of its rusted hinges. Stepping on to the patio, she saw him pull up. Unable to move beyond the first step of the porch, she held her breath as he dismounted and removed his helmet. The both stood in place, eyes locked. Maddie was unsure if she was supposed to make the first move. She wanted to run into his arms but she held herself firm remembering Gemma's words to follow his lead. It was him that spoke first. "You gonna get your ass over here and give me a proper welcome home?"

She was flying down the porch steps before the smirk had crossed his lips, covering the small distance to where he stood. She didn't wait for him to be ready for her, she threw herself at him wrapping her arms around his neck when his arms went around her waist. "Oh god Hap I fucking missed you" she cried.

"I missed you too Mad." Loving the feel of her body pressed up against his, her lips hastily met his and the kiss she had been yearning for finally came. His arms scooped her up and he walked them up the front porch steps with her legs wrapped around him. Grabbing the screen door with one hand, he nearly ripped it off the hinges as he quickly took them inside. Crashing her up against the first wall he came to, he used the wall as leverage to push Maddie up further so that his hands could make their way in between her legs. The feel of her cotton underwear and the wetness underneath them had him wanting to rip the material to get at her. Her body aching for him she started pushing his kutte off, letting it fall to the floor. Removing her lips from his mouth, she frantically kissed whatever exposed skin she could find. While his fingers felt wonderful against her skin, she wanted him inside her, craved that feeling.

"Hap please" she begged, "I want you so bad, please."

"I know baby, but I ain't gonna last long. Want to get you there first."

"What?" Maddie was confused by his statement, he'd never had this problem before. She'd always gotten off long before him.

"Jesus Mad I'm not superman! I ain't had the feel of a woman for 14 months, second I feel you I'm not going to make it much past that."

"But you were at the club, the crow eaters" she mumbled, continuing her kisses and pulling at his shirt.

"Why the fuck would I be with those bitches when I got you waiting for me?"

She smiled at the knowledge he'd come for her first. "Hap I don't care how long it lasts, I just need you, please."

With her final plea, he released his hold on her. Dropping her legs back to the floor, his hands travelled up her thighs and yanked down her underwear. Going to his belt, he quickly shed his pants before putting his hand under her chin. Staring into her big green eyes, he asked "You been with anyone else?"

She shook her head. "No, I only wanted you."

His arms snaked around her slender waist hoisting her back up. Her dress rode up, giving him better access. He slid into her, holding still for a minute as he relished the feel of being in her. The release caused Maddie to gasp as she feverishly clutched the back of his shirt. "Fuck Maddie" Happy said, his voice a low rumble in her ears as he pulled back pushing her harder up against the wall. Her face was buried in the crook of his neck as she started those sweet little moans that always brought him to his knees.

It had been 14 months since she had the feel of him and it didn't take long before she was holding tightly to him, eyes squeezed shut and voice shuddering his name as she climaxed. She arched her back, grinding herself further on to him, wanting him to devour her and make her his. It was rough and sweaty. Later she'd ask for sweet, but right now she just wanted him anyway he'd give her. She felt him shudder against her, his mouth nipping at her collarbone. His arms wrapped around her pulling her upper body close to his as he removed himself and set her legs back down on the floor. He bent down, pulling his pants back up while she righted herself as well. She clutched on to him when he stood back up, not wanting to lose the comforting contact of his body next to hers.

He indulged her and continued holding her as she buried her face in the crook of his neck, their breathing still heavy against each other. He felt the tears before he heard the hiccup in her breathing. He went to pull away but she clutched on to his shoulder, refusing to release him. "What is it baby girl?"

"Nothing, I'm just so glad you're back. I don't want to lose you again."

"It's alright Maddie, I'm right here - ain't goin anywhere. What else is going on in that pretty little head of yours? Why'd you leave the clubhouse? I came looking for you after church."

She sighed, hating to have to admit she'd been being a dumb girl. "I...I didn't think you wanted me anymore."

He pulled back from her this time, looking down at her. "Why the fuck would you think that?"

"Because you barely said two fucking words to me and they were about your Mom."

"What'd you want me do, fuck you right there in the parking lot in front of everyone? Shit Maddie, I didn't know you'd be there and all I wanted to do was take you. But I knew as soon as I had you in my arms this is what'd happen. If I didn't want you anymore, I'd tell you. We don't play games Maddie."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry it's just I wrote you and you didn't write me back. Did you get my letter?"

"Yeah I got it, what'd you want me to say back? I'm sorry I fucked up. I hated being in there, hated you being out here worrying about me. I couldn't fix it and it pissed me off. Fuck Mad I missed you too, missed being with you in Bakersfield, sharing a bed with you."

"You could have just wrote that back to me. I need you Hap." Maddie pulled him back to her, her hands lightly drawing patterns on his back.

"I know baby girl and I told you I'm right here with you."

They stood in silence holding each other until Maddie finally broke the moment. "Are you hungry? I made dinner."

"Fucking starving, been looking forward to your cooking."

"I thought you said you didn't expect me to be here?"

"I was hoping you would be here. If not, I was going to make the trek to Bakersfield."

"Hap?"

"Yeah baby?"

"Will you just hold me for a while longer?"

"Sure baby girl, only for you."

They ate and ended up in bed again. Maddie had just drifted off when she felt Happy stir and remove himself from underneath her. She heard him shrug on his jeans and then the squeaky front door opened. She wanted to give him his space and not be too clingy even though she didn't want him to leave her side. She closed her eyes and fell back asleep. When she woke up an hour later and found herself still alone, she got out of bed and threw on a t-shirt and sweatpants. Peering through the open door, she watched as Happy sat on the top step of the porch smoking. He looked over at her when he heard the screen door open. Walking down the steps, Maddie took a seat on the step below him, nestling herself between his legs and leaning up against him. "Sorry, didn't mean to wake you."

"It's alright, what're you doing out here?"

"Couldn't sleep. Wanted to come out here and just enjoy being outside. Being cooped up inside all that time made me miss the stars. Go back to bed. I'll come back in in a little while" he said kissing the top of her head.

"Nope, staying right here with you, you're not getting away from me while I have you here." When she heard, a coyote howl in the distance, she shivered. "I'm glad you're here, this place is creepy as fuck alone at night. Kept hearing shit last night."

"Just the wind, nothing's out here."

"I think it's the ghosts" she said quietly, grabbing the smoke that he held. Taking a drag she asked "How many bodies do you think are buried out here? I mean Pops had this cabin for what twenty years or so."

"Too many to count."

"How many have you buried out here?"

Happy chuckled. "A few, here and there."

She leaned her head back looking up at him. "Come back to bed, keep the ghosts away."

**And there you have it Happy and Maddie back together again. Hope you all enjoyed.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Maddie awoke to the smell of coffee. Seeing that the spot next to her in bed was empty, she rolled out of bed, pulling on pajamas that had been discarded sometime in the night when she had awoken with Happy's hands and lips on her. She was sore in all the right places as she walked into the kitchen. Grabbing a mug from the cabinet and pouring a cup of coffee, she stepped out on to the patio where Happy stood watching the trees in the distance. Setting her cup on the ledge next his, she wrapped her arms around his waist and kissed his bare back, loving the sight of him just in his low slung jeans. "I was hoping to not wake up alone, did that enough this last year."

"Sorry, couldn't sleep. You snore" he chuckled as he took a sip of coffee.

"I do no such thing!" Maddie laughed, placing kisses on his back then resting against him. "What's your plans for today, do you have church?"

"Nah, Clay gave all the guys on the inside a three day pass." He turned around, pulling her closer. "Gonna spend it with you."

"Wow a whole three days! Not sure what to do with that." She looked up at him smiling as he leaned in and kissed her.

"First I want fucking pancakes, missed those almost as much as being in between your thighs."

Maddie giggled. "You should write a book about how to charm a girl."

He swatted her ass as he followed her inside to the kitchen, watching her start breakfast. "What about you, you got wedding shit to do today?"

"Nope I'm free and clear on that front. Lyla opted not to have me in the wedding so I'm good until the dinner the night before the wedding." She had been a little hurt that she hadn't been asked to participate in any of the wedding planning or ceremony. She had tried as much as she could to get to Charming to spend more time with the kids but things with Lyla were still tense. She still thought her brother was making a mistake and that Lyla was just a whore looking to cash in - just as Luanne had done with Otto; but the difference was there weren't kids involved. Otto could do what he wanted after her aunt died because there wasn't any responsibility to be had. Maddie had been around Luanne and some of her girls enough to know that not one of them didn't have some serious emotional or drug issues.

"You okay with that?" Happy asked, smirking when he heard her frustrated groan.

She hated when he did that, always knowing what she was thinking without her even saying it. "It's not like I expected it or anything but it would have been nice to be asked. You know she changed the locks on Opie's house? Had to get a new fucking key, have to call now before I come over to make sure it's okay if I stay. I never had to fucking do that before."

"It is her house now."

"No it's not it's just her temporary residence until Opie wakes up. She's just... She's just..."

"Not Donna?"

"Yeah, I called her a whore too so that probably didn't help."

"No probably not, maybe you should try next time to sugarcoat shit that comes out of your mouth."

"Kinda the kettle calling the pot black there huh Hap?"

"I didn't say I should do it, I said _you_ should."

"I think I'll just stick with her being the whore that's marrying my brother" she said, setting pancakes down in front of him. "What do you want to do after your pancakes?" Maddie asked, giving him a devilish smirk.

"Take you back to bed and hear you scream my name some more."

"Write a book Hap."

"This is fucking stupid" Happy complained, following Maddie down some trail behind the cabin. They had spent yesterday in bed and today when he asked her what she wanted to do, she had told him she wanted to go for a hike. So here he was grumbling behind her.

"It's fresh air Hap, besides I'll make it worth your while."

"Yeah, there a fucking ice cold beer at the end of this?" Happy muttered, lighting a smoke as she laughed in front of him.

When they came to a clearing at the end of the path, she stopped. "See I told you. Brooks pond. It's beautiful isn't it?"

"Yeah it's nice." Happy exhaled another plume of smoke. Noticing Maddie removing her top, he asked "What the fuck are you doing?"

"Going for a swim." Turning around to face him, she removed her shorts and unclasped her bra as she toed off her shoes. Maddie raised an eyebrow, green eyes glistening. "You going to join me?"

"Nah, think I'll sit here and enjoy the view." She removed her underwear and went to the water's edge.

"Used to swim here with Opie, Jax and Thomas" she said, dipping into the water and swimming out until the water covered her breasts. "Had my first kiss here."

"Hale?"

"Nope, Jax" she said in a matter of fact tone.

"Jax?" Happy questioned, almost choking on his smoke.

"Yep, I can still remember those lips."

"Watch yourself Maddie" he warned.

Maddie couldn't resist egging him on, it was so seldom that the Tacoma Killer was anything other than deathly calm. "You never forget your first kiss Hap. A simple perfect kiss." Turning her back to him, she swam out further, laughing when she heard him splash into the water behind her.

Turning just as he caught up with her, he grabbed her roughly and pulled her to him. "Don't fuck with me Maddie." He said a note of warning in his voice.

She smirked at him. "What, you jealous?"

"I'm not fucking joking this time, quit your shit." He was pissed that one of his brothers knew the taste of her lips and he wanted to know how much further she had gone with Jax.

She let out a full laugh at his words. "I was ten, fell and scraped my knee. Jax kissed it to make me stop crying."

"Don't fucking play games with me."

"Got you in the water didn't it?" she said, leaning in to kiss him.

"Fucking bitch" he rasped as he took her lips in his.

"Oh fuck Hap that's good!" she screamed, clutching onto his back. One leg was wrapped over him, as Happy was holding her other leg. They were back in bed on their last day together. She knew after breakfast he'd go back to Charming and she wouldn't see him until that night at Gemma's for dinner. She would only be in Charming two more nights then back home to Bakersfield the day after the wedding. She didn't want to waste any time so as soon as the morning came, their clothes were quickly shed. Hovering over her, the sweat dripped off him as she writhed underneath him. Arching her back, she came as violently as he did with a groan.

"Think we've made up for 14 months yet?" Maddie gasped, still trying to catch her breath.

"Not even fucking close" he said, rolling out of bed and grabbing his boxers.

"I wish you didn't have to leave."

"I'll see you tonight. You'll be there right?" Happy raised his eyebrow at her. He knew full well that she didn't want to go to her brother's engagement party and wanted to make sure she wasn't going to bail.

"Yep, I've been summoned by the queen bee that my ass better be there." Maddie disentangled herself from the sheets and got out of bed.

"I'm gonna see if Clay will give me some time to go see Ma. Maybe spend more time with you, catch up on those 14 months."

Maddie was unable to hide her smile. "Really?"

"You know for Ma. You're just a bonus."

"Yeah right your ma" she said winking at him and knowing it would take an act of god for Happy to admit he wanted to spend more time with her as well. She'd take what she could get. He had come to her first and had indulged her the past three days. She didn't want to ask for more than he could give.

Maddie walked into the house wearing a blue wrap dress and white sandals.

"Hey baby" Gemma greeted.

"Hey Gem."

"Come on, all the hens are in the kitchen."

"Think I'll just join the guys out back." Maddie said, spying the men standing around drinking beer.

"Not this time sweetheart. Come on, and play nice" Gemma warned, knowing the tension was still palpable between the sister and future sister-in-law.

"No promises."

"I wouldn't expect anything less. You look chipper, how was your three days cooped up in the cabin alone?" Gemma said, winking at her.

"Good just stayed in bed most of the time" Maddie said, doing an admirable job of keeping a straight face and not blushing.

"I'm sure you did."

She sat at the dinner table next to Opie who had Lyla on his other side, listening to all the wedding chatter. Hating every minute of it she tried desperately to remember she should be happy for her brother who was smiling and laughing for once. "So Maddie when you going to finally take the plunge?" Jax asked interrupting her thoughts.

"When she finds someone that can put up with her bullshit, better than I can?" Opie responded for her putting his arm around her giving her a squeeze.

"Ha ha very funny Op, you have to put up with my bullshit, we're blood" Maddie smiled back at him until Lyla interrupted.

"Wait until you see my dress tomorrow Op."

Maddie seethed in her chair. She knew she shouldn't feel jealous of Lyla, it shouldn't bother her that much. But Donna had always been willing to share him knowing how important they were to each other. When she stayed the night, Donna would always retire early letting them spend time alone. Maddie didn't feel like she was gaining a sister with this marriage, she felt like she was losing a brother. Having enough of the wedding conversation, she stood up from the table and helped Gemma clear dishes. In the kitchen she grabbed a beer from the fridge and the bottle of whiskey from the counter. Downing the shot she chased it with the beer.

"Hitting the hard stuff already?" Tara asked, stacking dishes in the sink.

"Just prepping myself for tomorrow."

"Maddie I'm sorry she asked me to be in the wedding, she doesn't really have anyone else. She didn't think you'd say yes."

"She right, it's fine Tara. I'm glad everyone is getting along so well with her."

"I know how hard this must be on you, I know how close you were to Donna."

"I don't feel that with Lyla, I don't think I ever will. Everyone keeps telling me to try, but to be honest I don't think this is going to last. It's too soon for him, and she's not the right one."

"He thinks it is."

"Well he's always been a dumbass."

"They all have" Tara said dryly.

"What are we laughing about in here?" Gemma asked as she and Lyla walked in.

"Just about what dumbasses those men out there are" Maddie commented, taking a sip of her beer.

"You just figuring that out now sweetheart?" Gemma said.

"Nope, I've known that since I was five."

"Well not Opie, he's perfect."

"Then you obviously don't know him at all" Maddie said. She had meant it to be a joke but her sarcastic tone came through anyway.

"I know him just fine. I've been here with him through all this shit trying to help him move on with his life. Taking care of the kids, not holding him back or wanting him to be someone he's not" Lyla said defensively, staring directly at Maddie.

Maddie opened her mouth but before her words could come out Tara stepped in. "So what are you wearing tomorrow Maddie?"

"I brought a couple things I wasn't exactly sure what one wears to a porn wedding."

Tara immediately glossed over her response. "I'm sure you'll look great, I love that dress you have on right now."

"Yeah, I decided to save my leather halter top and clear fuck me stilettoes for tomorrow. Wanted to fit in better with the bride's side tomorrow. I think we're about the same size Lyla, I'll let you borrow them for your next movie. That's what families are for right?" she quipped, ignoring Gemma's exasperated huff and leaving the kitchen beer in hand.

The hallway bathroom was occupied so she went to the en suite in Gemma's room. Her run in with Lyla had soured the evening and she didn't want to be around the women in the kitchen or the men in the living room. Composing herself, she was walking to the bedroom door when Happy popped around the corner. "You hiding out?"

"Kinda, ran mouth again so not really welcome with the girls."

"Told you not to do that."

"No you told me I should sugarcoat the shit that comes out, not stop the shit from coming out."

"Sounds like you didn't do that either."

"No, no I didn't" she sighed, grabbing the front of his shirt. Pulling him to her she rested her head on his chest. "Why do I do that, why can't I just say something nice?"

"Cause that pretty little head of yours can't stop that pretty mouth of yours." Kissing the top of her head, curiosity got the better of him and he asked "What'd you say this time?"

"I don't want to repeat it."

"That bad huh?"

"It wasn't good" she said, looking up at him.

He smirked down at her. "I'm sure you've said worse. It'll be fine." Leaning in, he meant to give her a reassuring kiss but as usual one kiss with her turned into another that was drawn out. She leaned into him, hands clutching at him and pulling him in. He started to push her back towards the bathroom, wanting more privacy for what he really wanted to do with her.

She pushed her hands against him and broke the kiss whispering, "Hap we can't."

"You saying no?"

She shook her head. "No, but someone might want to use the bathroom." Grabbing his hand she pulled him towards the walk-in closet. He pushed her the rest of the way in, shutting the door behind him. His hands went to her instantly and her lips crashed against his, sucking in his bottom lip and biting.

"I don't know what's wrong with everyone else I love your fucking mouth" he said as she nipped and sucked on his exposed neck. His hand travelled down the length of her blue dress, lifting the hem until he got a hold of what he wanted to feel. She gasped as his hand slid inside her underwear. He waited until she was almost purring and was just about to slip the fingers that had been running through her slick folds inside her wet warmth, but she clamped her hand down on his wrist. He looked at her in confusion until she pressed a finger to her lips and heard the footsteps coming across the tile floor to where they were currently hiding amongst the dresses and wall to wall shoes. They froze as the steps became louder and held their breath as the closet door knob began to turn.

**Uh oh will Maddie and Happy finally be caught and by who? Hope you all enjoyed. **


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello readers I am posting Fridays chapter early I unfortunately have to have my gallbladder removed tomorrow so I'm not sure what shape I'll be in on Friday. I hope to be able to post a chapter on Monday but I'm sorry if I can't. Good news is I'll be cooped up in the house for a week should get a lot of writing done. Have a great weekend.**

**Chapter 19**

Happy and Maddie held their breath as the knob turned at a slow agonizing pace but that somehow didn't give Happy enough time to remove his hand from her underwear. As the door was opened a crack, Maddie's palms began to sweat. Clutching Happy's forearms in a tense grip, she heard Opie's voice calling Lyla.

"Lyla you okay?"

"Yeah."

"Well if you're looking for the bathroom, it's the other door. All you're going to find in there is Gemma's shoes."

Maddie breathed a silent sigh of relief as the door was closed. Happy extricated his hand from her panties and wrapped it around her waist, trying to lessen Maddie's vice like grip on him.

"You sure you're okay?" Opie asked again.

"No" Lyla replied, the tears prevalent in her voice.

"What happened?"

"Your sister."

"What'd she do?"

"Basically called me a fucking whore. Right in front of Gemma and Tara. I've spent so much time trying to break into their girls club and Maddie just comes in and knocks it all down."

"Don't fucking listen to Maddie, she's just being a bitch."

"Opie your mother already hates me and refused to come to the wedding. Now your sister thinks I'm some stupid whore."

"Lyla what you do for living to feed your kid doesn't make you a whore. And Maddie has no room to talk - the only difference between you and her is she doesn't get paid for it. She's fucking slept her way through half the men in Bakersfield so don't let her get to you. Come on, let's enjoy the rest of the night. We'll get married tomorrow then Maddie will leave on her high horse and go back to Bakersfield."

Maddie's heart sank at her brother's words. She looked up to Happy as the sound of footsteps retreated down the hall. "Fuck that was close" was all he said as he tangled his hands in her hair and resumed their previous activity as if he hadn't heard what Opie had said. He looked at her in confusion when she pushed him away. "What?"

"Seriously Hap? My brother just called me a whore." Tears started to sting her eyes and she blinked furiously, trying to will them away.

"So?"

She sighed. "Jesus he's fucking right."

"No he ain't."

"Yeah, well I was just about to let you fuck me in Gemma's closet. I let you treat me like some whore where you keep me on the side hanging around while you go around and fuck all those other girls. God I'm a fucking idiot." She pushed away from him, swung the door open and bumped into Gemma on her way out of the room.

"Maddie you alright?"

"Right as fucking rain" she said brusquely, walking past the woman. Happy, who was next out of the room only offered a shrug of his shoulders at Gemma's questioning look.

Maddie passed the group in the living room and grabbed her purse which gave rise to a barrage of protests to stay. Swinging open the front door she called over her shoulder, "I'm going to head out. See you all tomorrow."

Opie followed her out on the porch. "Maddie stay awhile" he called out to her retreating form which was already at her car.

Maddie could feel the tears pricking her eyes, tears of fury and shame. "I got a long drive back to the cabin."

"You can crash on my couch. Lyla's sister and mom got a hotel room."

"Nah, might find someone to fuck in between here and Pop's cabin." Getting in her car, she peeled out of the driveway as Happy came out on the porch.

"What the fuck was that all about?" Opie asked, turning to Happy.

"She fucking heard you call her a whore, asshole" he said, pissed that his closet tumble with Maddie had been interrupted.

"How the fuck did she hear that?"

"She was in Gemma's closet."

"Fuck!" Opie exclaimed. "What the fuck am I supposed to do? I'm being torn between the two most important women in my life" he asked rhetorically.

"You don't call your sister a fucking whore, is what you do." Happy responded gruffly.

A look of confusion washed over Opie's face. "Wait, how the fuck do you know she was in the closet?"

Happy opened his mouth, waiting for the lie from his brain to make it to his lips. "He was in there helping get some shoes off the top shelf for the wedding. She forgot hers" Gemma said smoothly, coming to the rescue.

"I should go after her, I gotta fix this" Opie said, starting to go towards his bike.

Gemma put her hand out to stop him. "No, you should stay here with your future wife. The beef between them isn't going to get any better if you go running off after Maddie. Plus you Winstons are the fucking worst at dealing with your feelings." Shoving the shoebox into Happy's hands and giving him a surreptitious wink, she said "Hap will go".

"Sorry Hap, thanks for taking the hit on this." Although Opie questioned the logic of sending the Tacoma Killa to deal with touchy feely stuff, he knew how pissed Maddie was and didn't really want to face her wrath. Her anger usually came from being hurt and that made her particularly harsh and spiteful.

"You fucking owe me brother. Last thing I wanted to do tonight was deal with a pissed off redhead. And to solve your confusion, Maddie is blood - you always take her side. Don't matter if she's being a stupid bitch about things." He suppressed the urge to punch Opie in the face for talking about Maddie that way and ruining his night. He was sure the night wasn't going to end up with him getting laid.

"What the fuck do you want?" Maddie asked when Happy knocked on the cabin door. Wordlessly he held up the case a beer he had bought and waited for her to unlock the screen door. "Go away! You trying to get me drunk and in bed is not what I want right now."

Although the tears in her eyes made him feel sympathetic, the sympathy was extinguished when she stepped away from the door without unlocking it. He grabbed the screen door in his free hand and yanked it hard, causing the lock to break.

"This ain't about me trying to fuck you, this is about you being a little selfish bitch when it comes to your brother and being a cunt to his wife." The fact that Happy didn't yell somehow made his words stronger which infuriated Maddie.

"If you're going to be a complete ass, just fucking go!"

"I'm not being an ass. Maddie you need to get your shit straight with Lyla, she's going to be in your life and you're just making it harder on yourself. I know you fucking miss Donna and it kills you to see someone else stepping in her place but Lyla's a sweet girl. She loves Opie's kids and Opie just as much as you do."

"My brother thinks I'm a fucking whore!" she shouted.

Happy's patience finally snapped. "And I told you, you ain't a whore. And don't you ever say I treat you like one, that shit pisses me the fuck off" he yelled back. Maddie slumped back on the couch looking defeated and self pitying. Seeing a little of the fire gone in her eyes he went and sat on the coffee table across from her. Reaching in his pocket he tossed a crumpled, worn piece of paper at her.

"What's this?" she asked as she started to unfold it.

"My fucking letter back to you."

She looked down at the paper. It was simple and true to Happy fashion.

_Hang in there baby girl I miss you too. Hap_

"Why didn't you send it?" she asked.

"I don't know, felt stupid writing to a chick."

"So you carried it around with you to give to me in person?"

"Maddie don't fucking doubt yourself or where you stand with me. You ain't just some whore." Maddie leaned forward taking his face in her hands and going in for a kiss. He pulled back. "Thought you didn't want me to fuck you tonight?" he smirked at her.

"Don't be cocky, but you sure know how to get a girl to drop her panties."

"You gonna drop your panties for me?" he said, scooting off the coffee table and kneeling in front of her. His hands traveled up her thighs and pushed her dress up, hooking his fingers in the sides of her underwear.

"Maybe" she said coyly whilst allowing him to remove her panties. Running his hands back up her thighs, he grabbed at her hips and pulled her further down the couch. She breathed out in anticipation as he spread her legs suddenly and hooked them over his shoulders and attached his mouth to her soft mound. "Oh god Hap" she exhaled as she felt his tongue. Although there was nothing tentative about his movements as he lapped her up, the intimacy of the moment was not lost on her; this was something he'd never done to her before. She almost laughed at the thought that only Happy would use sex instead of words to convey his feelings for her, to let her know she wasn't just a lay to him.

"Jesus Christ Happy that's good" she panted, gently resting her hand on top of his head and feeling his smooth skin. As his leather kutte brushed the back of her calves and his fingers gripped her hips and held her in place, she closed her eyes cherishing the thought that no other woman he was with had experienced this. The thought that this moment was reserved for her only, this tenderness was just hers had her coming against him.

"We may have a family problem?" Gemma said as she was cleaning up the kitchen after everyone had left.

"Gem we just got out, how can there be a family problem already?" Clay asked sitting at the kitchen counter.

"Our baby girl Maddie's got herself a secret thing with a member."

"God dammit! Tig was fucking right, I should have sent Kozik packing back to Tacoma."

"Not Kozik, this shit had been going on long before you guys went inside."

"Fucking Juice! That little shit."

"Nope."

Clay was stumped. It was true that the kutte was like pussy catnip, but beyond that, he had to admit that Samcro were a pretty eccentric looking crew. Outside of Kozik and Juice, he couldn't think of another Son who would catch Maddie's eye. "Who then?" he asked, fervently praying it wasn't Tig.

"Hap."

"You've got to be shitting me. You know Piney's going to shit a fucking brick, Opie too. Fuck is he looking to make her his old lady?"

"No, she doesn't want that and Hap's not known for giving a girl his crow."

"So they're just fucking?"

"No more than that, I think he really likes her. Where do you think he's been the last three days?"

Clay puffed on his cigar. "So they're not just fucking but don't want to make it official?"

"Something like that."

"Well fuck, we just need to get through this wedding then get Maddie back home and away from prying eyes."

It was morning when Maddie awoke to the sound of Happy's wallet chain jingling as he got dressed. Still naked under the cover, she rolled over and yawned. "You heading out?"

"Yeah got some club stuff. I'll see you tonight?" Happy wanted to make sure that she had every intention of not skirting her brother's wedding after last night.

"I'll be there" she grumbled. "You want to be my date? Maybe we can go together so I can avoid the awkward alone conversations."

"I don't think that's a good idea."

"Alright but can we sit by each other then, pretend it's a date?"

"Alright I'll sit by you."

"Hey Hap, do you think that shit is real when the preacher asks if anyone has any reason for the two to not be joined?"

"Maddie" he warned.

"Alright, alright, I'll forever hold my peace" she laughed as he came over to kiss her goodbye. "You coming back here after the wedding?"

"Depends, got some club stuff."

"I'm going to head out tomorrow, I'd like to spend my last night here with you."

"I'm thinking of asking Clay for a week to see Ma."

"That'd be nice."

Maddie took her time getting ready. There was no rush since she wasn't part of the wedding, she just needed to be there in time for some family pictures minus Mary. She put on a scoop neck blue sweater dress with a white belt and black boots. She left her hair down, curling it in ringlets and put on minimal makeup, certain the porn stars in attendance would have enough makeup on for everyone. She glanced at herself in the mirror knowing she wouldn't have to contend with the sweet butts tonight as it was a family function, but she didn't want the porn girls catching Happy's eye either. Pleased with her appearance, she left to make the long drive to the Indian reservation. It was Piney that spotted her first. "You're lucky your ass is here, in about 15 minutes I was going to come find you myself."

"Pop I'm here in plenty of time, I'm not even part of the wedding" she soothed, bracing herself for a lecture.

Piney had felt the tension when Maddie left Gemma's in a hurry. "Now I don't know what's going on between you and Opie, but family is family Maddie - no matter what shit gets said. Cut your brother some slack today." When he saw the little flare of anger in her eyes, he continued before she had a chance to protest. "And before you go bitching about me taking his side, I already had this talk with him this morning. Your damn mother always forgot what it meant to be blood but I'll be damned sure you're not going to do that, Opie either. Got it?"

"I got it Pop" she nodded, surprised when he pulled her into a short gruff hug.

"Now go make yourself useful, and you bite that tongue of yours every time a shitty comment wants to come out."

"And?"

"And what?"

"I don't know, I'm waiting for you to make some shitty comment of your own."

"And...you look nice."

"Jesus Pop, weddings make you all sentimental and crap?"

"Well don't fucking get used to it" he grumbled, returning her smile.

She sat next to Piney in the front row with Gemma and Clay on the other side of her. Happy and the guys were sitting in the row behind them. She felt her heart drop when she saw the big smile on her brother's face. Seeing the happiness he hadn't had in his eyes for so long made her kind of hate herself for her actions with Lyla. This woman had given him back that little light that he had lost. After the short ceremony, drinking and eating commenced. Maddie sat at her table next to Happy and the rest of the guys, watching the happy couple dance to their first song. Maddie waited until Lyla was alone to approach her.

"Hey, listen uhmm if you need someone to take the kids tonight or a couple of days, I can."

"My sister and mother are taking them for tonight and we don't have a honeymoon planned so no thanks."

"Well in the future I don't mind taking them. The kids and Piper are welcome anytime at my house all you have to do is ask."

"We're fine."

Hearing the venom in the woman's tone reminded Maddie to keep her own in check. "Lyla I'm just trying to help."

"If you wanted to help you could have offered weeks ago."

"Well you could have called anytime and asked for help."

"How am I supposed to do that? You really haven't made me feel welcome."

"It's not my fucking job to make you feel welcome" she said, raising her voice slightly. She started to walk away but then remembering her father's words, she took a deep breath and turned around. "Lyla we got off on the wrong foot, and I said things I shouldn't have. When you've been around longer you'll come to know this family does that a lot."

"Is that another dig or an apology?"

Taking another deep breath, Maddie said, "It's an apology, I'm sorry I may have misjudged your intentions. Regardless of what I think or say, you're part of this family so that means we have to get along. I love my brother and Kenny and Ellie and I don't want bullshit between us affecting that. So I'm sorry."

"Thank you" was all she got from her before she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she found herself face to face with her brother.

"Come on Maddie let's have a dance" he said, holding out his hand and leading her to the dance floor.

"So it didn't kill you?" he commented as he started to turn her around the dance floor.

"What?"

"Saying you're sorry. Didn't think you knew that word."

"Well it almost did, thought I was going to have an embolism."

"Pop had a talk with me."

"Me too."

"Hap said you heard my conversation with Lyla the other night."

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry…...see I can say it too" he said, giving her an apologetic smile.

"I don't know why people place such emphasis on the word sorry, doesn't make me feel any better. Do you really think I'm a whore?"

"Fuck no Maddie, but you put me in a tough spot. I love Lyla and you made her feel like utter shit and I had to fix that and not fuck things up with you. But I did anyway, I don't think you're a whore, I fucking love you Mad but you make it hard sometimes."

"Not any easier loving you, you know that asshole."

"Mad I know that whatever arrangement you come to with Lyla it's not going to be the same as with Donna. I don't want the same thing. I don't want another Donna because nobody can replace what I had with her but I have to move on with my life. But that don't mean I'm moving on without you."

Tears had started to form in her eyes as he pulled her in for a tight hug. "I'm sorry Op, I'll be nicer I promise."

"I don't want you to be nicer - that just wouldn't be you, but I want you to try and at least get along with her. The kids love her and so do I."

"I'll try, I promise Op."

They stood embracing and no longer swaying with the music. "You know why I love you Maddie?"

She pulled back and looked up at him with a smile on her face "Because you're not as stupid as you look?"

"That's a good one" he chuckled. "But no, I love you because you're here even though you don't agree with my decision."

"I'm always here for you Opie."

It was late in the night when Happy made his way back to the cabin after dropping the Russian bodies off. Maddie was asleep when he climbed into bed but she stirred and rolled over muttering "You know it's rude to cut out on your date and not come back?"

"Good to know, I ain't ever been on a date before."

"Everything go okay with whatever was more important than you sitting next to me watching Gemma get half in the bag and Clay having to carry her out of there?"

"Yeah, everything's good. How much in the bag did you get?" He hadn't seen her car when he pulled up.

"Enough to have Tara and Jax drop me off"

"Enough to let me have my way with you?" he smirked as he kissed her.

"That's always a given, regardless of alcohol."

**Hope you all enjoyed!**


	20. Chapter 20

**Hello all, surgery went well and recovery is going smoothly. Happy Halloween!**

**Chapter 20**

The next morning while Maddie was packing, Happy made a trip to Clay's house. "How's Gem?" he asked when Clay opened the door to let him in.

"Still sleeping last night off. What can I do for you?" he asked once Happy was in the kitchen with him.

"I wanted to take some time, maybe a week and spend it with Ma."

"Sure, now that things are solved with the Russians, it should be calm around here. I'll call you back if we need you."

"Thanks brother I appreciate it."

"We do have a slight problem that I thought you could help with while you're away."

"Anything Clay."

"We have a little issue with our gun storage right now. With that new sheriff on our asses we need a place away from Charming - somewhere safe off his radar. You still staying with Maddie when you go to Bakersfield?"

"Yeah" Happy replied warily, not liking the thought that he knew was in Clay's head.

"I'm thinking our little Samcro sweetheart's place is as safe as it gets - especially with you there to guard the merchandise."

"Did you get the okay from Piney on this?"

"Don't need to, I'm getting the okay from her old man." Clay raised his eyebrows at Happy, letting him know what information he had on him.

"It's not like that with us, nothing official - doesn't have my ink. It's not my decision to okay this, it's still Piney's."

"She fucking any other of the Sons?"

"No."

"Then she's not Sons' property, she's yours. Old lady or not it's your decision to make and I'm asking you to make it. It'll only be for a week at most, I'll send Kozik and Miles up with the merchandise in a day or two." Clay smoothly put the plan in play without waiting for Happy's consent. "If everything goes good, Piney never needs to know the location of the guns or about the little thing you got going with his daughter." Happy nodded and went to the kitchen door but Clay called out before he could leave "You make sure to keep your girl in check - we don't need her running to Piney or Opie about this."

He drove back to the cabin, then followed Maddie on the long drive back to Bakersfield. Lying in bed with her that night, his normal comfort from sleeping next to her wouldn't come. She had known something was off with him but when she asked, he had given her the normal guy response that everything was fine. He needed to tell her about Kozik and Miles' impending arrival but couldn't bring himself to. He wasn't sure how she'd react, she had always wanted to stay out of club business and now he was bringing it right to her front door. Not that he had a choice, you didn't say no to the president and Clay had his balls in a vice by using his secret relationship with Maddie as leverage. He had thought about calling Jax or maybe Tig for some advice, had even thought about going to Piney himself and coming clean. He knew without a doubt that Piney would put the kibosh on the guns being stored at Maddie's but he'd also put this thing with Maddie to an end as well. He wasn't ready to end what he had with her, she'd become important to him. It was more than just looking out for her as a favor to her father and brother, he liked spending time with her; loved it when she'd get the giggles and start snorting against him, loved when it was the just the two of them sitting on the couch drinking beer and gorging on pizza.

When he finally woke up in the morning, he woke up alone, although he could hear her moving around the house. Reaching for the clothes he had dropped beside the bed the night before, he found the spot empty. Walking out of the bedroom in just his boxers and wife beater, he found Maddie in the laundry room throwing what looked to his clothes in the dryer.

"What're you doin?"

Maddie jumped when she heard the voice from behind her. Turning around, she placed a hand to her chest. "Jesus Christ Hap! Make some noise before you go sneaking up on a girl" she smiled, as her heart rate returned to normal.

"What're you doin with my shit?"

"Thought you'd want some clean clothes while you're here. I couldn't tell what was clean or dirty in your bag so I washed it all." She started the dryer then turned back to him.

"Didn't ask you to do that."

"I know, made breakfast too - didn't ask me to that either" she quipped, giving him a playful wink and walking past him.

Happy grabbed her arm before she could walk away. "Just what the fuck do you think you're doing Maddie?" he asked, pulling her back.

"What exactly are you asking?"

"You doing my laundry, cooking for me, cleaning up after me. What do you think is going to come of that?" he queried, stepping closer to her as she backed into the wall.

"What the hell is your problem this morning?"

"Just want to know what your motives are?"

"Motives for what?" Happy had been sullen the entire night before and Maddie was starting to get pissed at his line of questioning.

"What do you think Maddie, doing all this shit is going to get me?" Happy inched closer to her, staring her down with his obsidian glare.

"Get you? Is that what you think, that I'm trying to trap you? You're being ridiculous, get the fuck out of my way!" Maddie yelled. Rather than move away, he stepped towards her, pushing her further into the wall behind her. "Now asshole!"

He leaned down, whispering in her ear "You know why it ain't gonna work Mad?" Dipping his head down he gave her neck a bite. Feeling his teeth grazing her neck caused Maddie to hitch her breath. Part of her wanted to punch him in the face but the other wanted to beg him to fuck her against the wall.

"Don't, I'm mad at you" she protested, jerking away from him. Cupping her face, he pressed his lips against hers.

"It's not going to work Maddie because you already got me." Although he had murmured it against her lips, she had heard him clearly.

"Hap..." she whispered as he went to her neck again. His hand roamed down her body and lifted her up off the floor.

"You fucking got me baby girl, keep me coming back for more. Those fucking sweet little noises you make, the feel of your fuckin body next to mine. That goddamn laugh of yours, the smell of you on me when I wake up."

Kissing her, he turned her around and walked her towards the bedroom and lay her down on the bed. He crawled up her body as she pulled his wife beater over his head, biting her lip at the sight of his muscles rolling under his inked skin. Reaching for the oversized t-shirt she slept in, he easily pulled it off her before returning his lips to hers. He removed her white cotton boy shorts and spread her legs further. Looking up at Maddie, he watched the rise and fall of her chest as her pulse quickened, watched her lick her lips as he ran a fingertip down her wet center. Attaching his lips to her, he softly licked at first then sucked her swollen bud in his mouth. Maddie screamed in pleasure, holding his head him in place. Happy knew she was close by the tell tell signs of the little shuddering breaths that escaped her parted lips. Shrugging out of her hold, he quickly shed his boxers and entered her before she had the time to protest his short absence.

His fluid movements inside her had her coming as she gripped onto his back, shuddering against his rock hard body. Happy pulled himself up onto his knees and held her thighs in place as she writhed uncontrollably, every coherent thought leaving her mind. She wanted to beg him to stop because the feeling was too intense but at the same time she wanted to cry out not to stop. She snapped her eyes open and caught his black eyes boring a hole through her with his intense gaze. Reaching for his forearm, she pulled him back down to her, roaming every inch of him she could touch as her lips attached themselves to his. She moaned in relief when she felt him pulse inside her body which was still contracting around him. As she came down from her high, her arms and legs remained wrapped around him as he placed soft kisses that she didn't think he was capable of over her exposed skin.

"We need to talk about something" Happy stated. He was sitting at the table next to Maddie enjoying a reheated breakfast.

"That's never a good conversation starter" she said, taking a bite of toast.

"Club needs some help."

"And?"

"We need to store some stuff out of Charming's border."

"And you want to use my place?"

"Yeah, Kozik and Miles are coming up tomorrow with a truck. We're just going to park it here for a couple of days."

"That's it, just going to park a truck in my yard?"

"Yeah."

"And I'm assuming Kozik and Miles will be staying on as well?"

"Yeah."

"Kind of ruins my plans for our week together but alright."

"You don't want to know what's in the truck?"

"No, I probably don't want to know."

"Probably not."

"Does Piney know about this?"

"Nope."

"Opie?"

"Nope."

"Well what's one more secret from them right? Can't be any worse than the one about me and you." Getting up from the table, she went to grab his empty plate but he reached his hand out, stopping her.

"Baby girl we got to be careful while Kozik and Miles are here. We don't need anyone else in this club finding out about us."

"Why? Who else knows besides Gemma and Tig?"

"Juice" Happy said, omitting Clay's knowledge of them.

"Juice won't say anything, he's too scared of you. And Gemma knows the shit it'll bring down so she wouldn't tell. Tig is a whole other story - who the fuck knows with him? Might get hammered one night and think confession is good for the soul."

"That's why we don't need Kozik or Miles knowing. Kozik wouldn't say anything but Miles is still new - he might think he could move up the ranks if he spilled his guts to Piney."

"Just means you're going to have to behave yourself" she said, taking a seat in his open lap.

"Me? You're the one who can't keep quiet!"

"You know you like it." Leaning in she nibbled on his ear. "Why don't you take me back to bed while I still have time to scream your name?" she whispered.

Maddie jumped when she heard shouting coming from out back. It was clearly Happy who was doing the yelling. She was at the kitchen table working, or trying to work. She hadn't been able to get very much done with three men underfoot and the constant bickering between them. Curious about what the current argument was about, she went to the back door as Miles came inside giving her a warning. "I wouldn't go out there."

Never one to listen, she stepped outside anyway as she heard Happy berating Kozik. "Are you a fucking idiot? What the fuck is wrong with you? I fucking leave you alone for like five minutes and you fuck everything up."

Almost laughing at Kozik's face as if he was being scolded like a child, she asked "What happened?" hoping to deflect Happy's anger before things got physical.

"Surfer boy here got the truck stolen."

"Uh oh."

"Uh oh is fucking right, stupid asshole. Did you get ahold of Clay?" Happy yelled as Miles retuned out back.

"Nah, tried him and Jax both. Got ahold of Piney though. Man is he pissed, he's on his way here."

"You told him the guns got stolen from Maddie's house? You stupid retard! What part of this whole thing is a secret did you not understand?" For a brief moment, Maddie wondered if Happy might combust with rage. Although he relished his violent and gruesome job with the club, he was not a man who yelled very often, preferring to use a controlled menace instead.

"I didn't think it was a secret from Piney, we're at his daughter's house for fucks sake."

"Wait you've been storing guns at my house?" Maddie asked, shocked.

Happy sighed and took his phone out. "Maddie I ain't got time for this, your pop is on his way and I need to head him off before he gets here and shit starts raining down." Meeting her gaze, he didn't like the look of fire in her eyes that hadn't cooled with his words.

"He should come here with a shit storm! Fucking storing guns at my place, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Maddie seethed, pissed that she'd become part of this side of the club's business.

"What the fuck did you think was in the fucking truck, Girl Scout cookies?"

"No I thought it was stolen auto parts. Not something that could get me locked away in a federal prison. How could you not tell me this?"

"Maddie, for your information stolen auto parts are illegal too."

"I'm not fucking stupid, the difference is between a felony and a misdemeanor the degree changes with the severity of legality. You didn't fucking tell me because you knew I wouldn't go along with this shit." Storming back into the house, the sound of the backdoor slamming reverberated in the garden. Happy opened his phone and called Clay. Getting no answer he then called Jax, he needed to fix this before he had any more Winston's pissed at him. At least he knew how to fix things with Maddie, but he was pretty sure him fucking Piney wouldn't cheer the old man up.

"Hey brother what's up?" Jax answered on the first ring.

"We got a problem, couldn't get ahold of Clay."

"What kind of problem?"

"Guns got grabbed."

"Please tell me you were transporting them somewhere and they weren't taken from where I think they were." Clay had told Jax about the storage situation. Although Jax hadn't been happy about it, he had agreed it was their best option.

"Nope at Maddie's. Got a bigger problem though brewing."

"What?"

"Piney knows and is on his way here."

"Fuck! On my way." Jax snapped his phone closed looking at Opie "Brother you should have taken the week off and gone on a honeymoon."

The ride to Maddie's was awkward to say the least. Having finally gotten through to Clay, Jax spent the rest of the trip getting reamed by Opie for not telling him about this. He didn't think it could get worse until they pulled up to Maddie's house and heard Piney bellowing from the backyard. Opie and Jax made their way to the front door as Clay pulled up with the rest of the guys. Walking out on the patio, he saw Maddie slumped in a chair watching her father yelling at the three men standing in front of him. "What the fuck were you guys thinking, bringing this shit to my daughter's fucking door? Who told you this shit was okay?"

"I did" Clay said as he walked towards Piney, whose face was red with rage. Maddie watched as Kozik, Miles and Happy relaxed slightly, relieved that it was someone else's turn to face Piney's wrath.

"Without fucking asking me! That's fucking bullshit, I told you I make the decisions about my family. You don't have my fucking permission for this shit!"

"I got permission old man!"

"From who?" Piney looked at Opie, ready to tear into him until Clay responded.

"From the patched member she's fucking, that outweighs your permission."

**Uh Oh... Maddie and Happy are finally caught. Have a great weekend.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

Piney opened his mouth to speak but Maddie beat him to it. "Tig you fucking told?" she yelled, glaring at Tig.

"You sick fuck!" Piney yelled his face thunderous as he started toward Tig.

Instantly Tig was on the defense. "Hey old man it's not fucking me, and Maddie I didn't say shit."

"Which one of you assholes is fucking my baby girl?" Piney demanded, turning to Juice first. "It's you isn't it, you Puerto Rican little shit."

"I swear it ain't me Piney" Juice said, backing up.

"I want to know who! Right the fuck now!" Piney was so worked up that he looked like he was going to have a stroke. The men and Maddie remained silent until Happy stepped forward.

"Piney..."

Piney turned to Happy, not understanding Happy's intention of confessing. "Stay the fuck out of this Hap, this is my fucking daughter, my fucking family. I'm not going to ask again which one of you assholes had the nerve to fuck my daughter."

Maddie looked to Happy and shook her head to stop him from saying anything more. He responded by giving her a nod and trying to convey that everything was going to be okay. But she knew it wouldn't. The second those words left his lips, everything would definitely not be okay. She could see the anger in her father's face and the blood boiling in Opie's although he remained eerily silent the entire time.

"I'm the asshole fucking your daughter" Happy stated with no hesitation in his voice.

Opie lunged first. "You fucking son of a bitch, I fucking trusted you!" Jax, who as always kept a level head stopped Opie before he could get to Hap.

"Op, this is not the fucking time for this, we need to take care of the guns first, then you can hash out this family shit." Opie stood down, his face still clenched in fury.

"That's bullshit, this asshole has been fucking my baby girl behind the club's back. He pays for this Jax."

"I'm not fucking saying to let it go Piney, I'm saying now isn't the time."

"Good cause I ain't letting it go, fucker taking my baby's innocence."

Hearing her father talking like she was some pristine virgin caused Maddie to let out a laugh. "Jesus Christ Pop, my innocence really? I lost that a long time ago."

"You've fucking done enough Maddie, keep your fucking mouth shut. We'll go get the guns then I'm going to beat the shit out of you" Piney grunted, pointing to Happy.

"Only after I do Pop" Opie said, stalking away.

Maddie was left at the house alone waiting for them to come storming back in and to see what was going to come of her now not secret relationship with Happy. Her head was spinning with all the 'what ifs'. Would her father make him stop seeing her, could he do that? Would the club vote on it? Was her fate in the hands of a bunch of pig headed men? If so, she was pretty sure the vote wouldn't go her way. Perhaps she should call Gemma - at least she'd be on her side and lord knows the Queen Bee could make them all listen. Would Happy even want to be with her now? Would he fight for her? Could they take his patch for this? The rumble of bikes and a truck coming down the street, signalled that all the questions swirling in her head would soon be answered.

She got up and opened the RV gate for Kozik to pull the truck in as the rest of the men dismounted their bikes. Maddie followed the men as they walked to the backyard. She watched silently as Opie and Happy began to remove their kuttes and their rings. She knew it would come to this but was still shocked that they were going to fight it out in her backyard. The whole thing was so moronic and the double standard that the men could fuck whomever they wanted while her sex life had to be club sanctioned made her furious. She stepped up shouting "This is fucking stupid, you two can't do this." Turning to her brother who was taking his wallet chain off, she said "Op I'm a fucking adult, he didn't do anything I didn't want to do or ask for."

Opie's face remained oddly passive although she could see the rage simmering underneath. "Don't fucking matter, should have fucking come to me first. This is about respect Maddie and you not being just some fucking whore."

"And if he had come to you, then what?"

"Would've told him to keep his goddamn hands off of you. You're fucking better than this."

"Opie please."

"Go inside Maddie."

She turned to Happy. "Please Hap don't do this" she begged as he removed his shirt.

He didn't remove his eyes from Opie as he spoke. "Go inside Maddie, I'm going to beat the piss out of your brother for calling you a whore, shoulda fucking done it that night."

"This is bullshit" Maddie shouted but retreated back inside. Hearing the sickening sound of the first punch landing, she closed the back door with a cringe, unable to look. She went out front and took a seat on the front porch, lighting a smoke as the cheers came from the backyard. She wasn't sure how long the fight went on or how many cigarettes she smoked but her head jerked when the front door opened and Tig came out.

"Thanks for the entertainment Maddie" he commented as he took as seat next to her. "I didn't fucking tell either, I'm not some gossiping fucking girl."

"Are both of them still alive?"

"Yeah."

It was Piney who stormed out next, still mad. "Madelynn you've done some real stupid shit over the years but this one, what the fuck were you thinking, messing around with a patched member?"

She really didn't have answer for him. It was pointless explaining to her father that she was free to sleep with whomever she chose, the women's liberation movement had never reached the outlaw MC world and no father liked to think of his baby girl having sex.

"At least I wasn't messing around with Tig."

"That doesn't make me feel any better Maddie. At least I would've expected this shit from Tig."

"You know I'm right here" Tig piped up, getting a glare from Piney. "I'll leave you two" he said, standing up and walking to his bike.

"Do you know who Happy is, what he does for the club?"

"I'm not stupid Pop and I've seen him naked so I've seen the scorecard he keeps. Pop I'm not going to apologize because I'm not sorry. I'm sorry you're pissed but not about what I did."

"I'm disappointed in you Maddie, you fucked up big with this one" Piney said, walking away from her to his own bike but heard her shout out.

"What's new Pop?" The beauty of having parents who were perennially disappointed in you was that it gave Maddie a certain amount of freedom to do what she wanted

Maddie watched as her father took off down the street and the rest of the men except for Happy, Opie and Chibs filtered out. She watched as the truck pulled out of her backyard taking away the thing that had caused this whole problem to begin with. Jax gave her a small smile as he walked past her and waited by Opie's truck.

"What the fuck were you thinking Hap?" Opie cursed as Chibs cleaned the cut above his eye. "Not only going behind my back fucking my sister but bringing the guns here?"

"What would you have done Opie, go against Clay? I didn't have a fucking choice" Happy questioned, holding a bloody towel to his split lip.

"No, I wouldn't have either but it was shitty move."

"You think I don't fucking know that? Your sister's just as pissed with me right now about this as you are."

"Good, hope she beats the shit out of you too."

"Won't happen. She hits like a girl just like you do" Happy said, cracking a smile, glad when Opie returned it. "Are we good here with the whole sister fucking thing?"

Opie stood up, putting his kutte and rings back on. "Yeah, but if you fuck up her life or bring any club shit down on her I'll fucking end you."

"Same goes for you calling her a fucking whore."

"I'll put in the good word for you then, tell her you fought for her honor."

"Thanks brother" Happy said, standing up and bear hugging Opie.

"Trust me I know what a hot headed bitch she can be, she's a Winston." Leaving Happy to finish getting patched up by Chibs, Opie went out front to talk to Maddie who was still on the bench out front.

"Jesus Opie" she said when she turned and saw his battered face.

"You should see the other guy." Seeing the worry in her face, he paused. "He's fine, I made sure not to mess with his pretty face." Taking a seat next to her he lit his own smoke. "What the fuck Maddie?"

"I know, I know."

"Hap? Of all the guys, Hap is the choice you make? You know he's not going to settle down, he ain't gonna give you a crow or make you an old lady."

"_Jesus, " _she thought, _"again with this crow shit. Like that's my goal in life. Marry a biker, pop out some kids then stand stoically by as he bangs whores and does time". _ Out loud she said "I know that, I think that's a what I like about it, no fucking expectations."

"You know he fucks other women, that's not going to change."

"Opie, I grew up around the club. I know how much whoring around you _all _do."

"Mad I don't want to see you get hurt."

"I'm not Opie, and I'm a big girl if I do. I knew who he was when I started this with him."

"How long has this been going on?"

"Over two years now."

"Jesus fucking Christ, why didn't you say something?"

"Because I knew this would be the outcome."

"Then wouldn't it have been better to get it the fuck over with?"

"I didn't want any pressure put on him in the beginning. I didn't want you and Pop to make him feel like he had to make it official, you know..."

"Make an honest woman out of you."

"Opie I am so past being an honest woman."

"Don't need to know that shit. Maddie do you realize this is the longest ongoing relationship you've had?"

"I know, I don't know how it works but it does Opie, I'm happy with him. He understands me, understands the bullshit that comes with me, he doesn't question me and I don't have to worry about where this is going. I know where I stand with him and he knows what I need from him."

"Fuck, look at us Mad I'm fucking married to a porn star and your fucking the Tacoma Killer."

"Yeah, what a pair we make. I'm sure grandma Winston would be so proud."

"I'm sure Mary will be ecstatic about this news. Once I tell her she'll get off my back for my stupid shit."

"Have you talked to her?"

"Yeah a couple times. She came by to see the kids, refuses to call Lyla anything but 'that whore'."

"At least I'm not doing that anymore. You think Pop's going to get over this?"

"Probably not, you're his baby girl. Don't matter if he's an asshole most the time, with you he still sees you as a twelve year old."

Chibs came out on the porch. "He's all cleaned up, maybe has a cracked rib but all the parts ya care about are intact" he said, giving her wink before heading to his bike.

"You know why I love you Maddie?" Opie asked getting up from his seat.

"Because I look better in skinny jeans than you do?"

"No, because even after all these years you can still do shit that amazes me."

"I love you Opie."

"Love you too Maddie." Kissing her on top of her head, he walked to his truck and took off as Happy joined her outside. He was dressed and cleaned up but he gave a slight groan as he sat next to her.

"You fuckin mad at me or are we good?" he asked, lighting up a smoke.

"I figure I should cut you some slack on the guns, what with my brother kicking your ass and all, _Killer_."

"Fucking bitch" he said, seeing her smirk.

"You should have told me about the guns."

"Yeah and how would have that conversation gone?"

"How about: hey Maddie can I store some guns at your house for a couple days? And then I would have said fuck no. An argument between us would have ensued, then I would've relented and we would've ended up naked. Now it ended in the whole club knowing our shit and you in some backyard brawl with my brother and Pop being pissed. Would have been a lot easier if you had just told me then I would have told you not to leave Blondie and Dagwood in charge of watching the guns."

"You telling me how to do my shit now, think you know better than me?"

"No I just know Kozik isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, gets distracted easily by shiny things. You know your job and this club, but today could have ended a whole lot differently and nobody would have been pissed."

"Remind me to beat the shit out of Kozik next time I see him, stupid fucker."

"Oh I will."

"Any chance this conversation ends with us naked?"

"When does a conversation between us never not end with us in bed."

"Just making sure we're still on the same page baby girl."

**Thank you all for taking the time to read and review, hoped you liked this chapter as well. I know it seems like Opie let this go easily but I think that's the way these guys work they fight it out and it's done.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

Maddie walked quickly down the quiet halls of Saint Thomas. Taking a deep breath, she entered the room and pulled the curtain back to find her father glaring at her from his hospital bed. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

She smiled at his crankiness knowing that if he had the energy to be an asshole, he was fine. "I see you're just fine" she said wryly, taking a seat next to him. "Gemma called. Said you had an episode and they were admitting you. Figured with Opie gone on a run, I was the next of kin. Just wanted to get down here and see if I needed to pull the plug on your old ass."

"You're not funny."

"Not trying to be. If they give me that option, I'll gladly flip the switch." Although there was laughter in her voice, her eyes were veiled with worry.

"I'm fucking fine."

"Good, don't know what I'd do without your constant bitching. But you're stuck with me until you get back on your feet."

"You staying at Opie's?"

Maddie shook her head. "No your place. I can't really take care of you if I'm not watching your ass twenty-four seven."

"You going to see that asshole while you're here?"

"Aww so you're still pissed about that?" There had been total radio silence between the two of them since the day Piney had found out about her and Happy and left her sitting on her porch.

"You make some really shitty choices Maddie."

Maddie chuckled. "Yeah because the Winstons are famous for being sensible. Trust me, Happy is the best choice I've made in a long time, Pop" she said, her tone becoming more serious. "He's good for me - keeps me grounded and I'm happy. I know you're never going to be okay with it, but I'm old enough to know what I'm doing and the consequences."

"I don't think you do. You have no idea what direction this club is going and the shit it's going to bring with it. I kept you out of it all these years for a reason."

"Why don't you for once enlighten me Pop? I already know about the guns, so what else?"

"Clay's got us muling drugs for a cartel."

Maddie was doubly shocked. Shocked that her father had actually told her club business and shocked at how dangerous club business had become. "Jesus Christ Pop! Why the fuck would the club vote for that shit?"

"Some of us didn't, it was a close vote."

"Are you telling me this so I'll end things with Happy?" she asked, narrowing her eyes.

"I'm telling you so you know what you're getting involved in. I don't want my family hurt any more than it has been because of this club."

"Donna?"

"Yeah Donna, that wouldn't have happened without our ties to the guns or Clay. Now he's taking this club down a path that's going to get bloodier than it ever was with just the guns."

Once she had got Piney settled back at home and listened to his grumbling and insistence that he was fucking fine and didn't need a babysitter, she made her way over to Lyla's to see the kids. Lyla answered the door. "Opie's not here" she said, folding her arms across her chest.

Maddie plastered a smile on her face and tried to hold her tongue. "I know, just wanted to see the kids"

"They're not here. Kenny's with Piper at a friend's house and Ellie is staying with Gemma. I have to work early in the morning."

"Okay well are you going to invite me in or are we going to just stand here at the door and be awkward?"

"Sure come on in" Lyla said finally, stepping aside for Maddie to come in. It was strange to suddenly feel awkward entering a house that had been like a second home to her before.

"Opie should be home in the morning."

"I just got Piney settled in at home so I'm going to head back to Bakersfield in the morning. Do you think you can look in on him and at least try and limit the amount of alcohol he ingests in a 24 hour period?"

"Yeah sure. Have...have you talked to Op lately?"

"Not for a couple of weeks, why?" Maddie said, not entirely sure where the conversation was headed.

"He just seems distant lately."

Talking about her brother's relationship made Maddie feel even more awkward. She looked at Lyla, noticing how worried she seemed. "It's probably just club stuff" she reassured.

"Yeah I guess."

"Listen Lyla, the club is the club - hate or love it, its not going to go away. It's going to take him away from you, and he'll be an asshole sometimes when shit's bad with the club but he's not going to leave it, ever."

"I know that."

"Then everything is fine."

After the pep talk with Lyla, she made her way to the clubhouse and found Happy sitting at the bar and glaring at the open church doors. Taking a seat next to Happy, she followed his gaze and saw Juice splayed on the table and Tara working on his leg. "What happened to Juice?" she asked.

"Got shot" was his only response as he took a sip from his beer.

Grabbing a drink of her own, she asked "You care to elaborate on that?"

"Nope."

"You been digging holes Hap?" she asked, noticing the dirt covering his black hoodie and jeans and caked on his boots.

"Yep."

"You care to elaborate on that?"

"Nope."

"Are we having a conversation? Because I don't feel like you're participating."

"Just shit you don't need to know."

She could tell by his foul mood that whatever had happened today was more than normal club stuff. "Let me see if I can piece this together with your limited information. Juice got shot and you dug a hole so I'm assuming that whoever shot Juice is no longer with us. Usually when you shoot someone, you're in a good mood. Care to show me your score card so I can see if it has an addition?"

"Shot someone but didn't do the killing, he was already dead when I shot him."

"And that was who?"

"Maddie, baby girl, I don't want to have this talk with you. What I want is to finish this beer go take a shower and have you naked in my bed when I get out."

"Did it have something to do with the drugs?"

"Fuck Mad did you not just hear what I said? I don't want to talk about this shit with you. I want you naked in bed. And what the fuck do you know about the drugs?"

"Hap you'll have me naked in your bed, I just want to talk first. Piney told me about the drugs. Christ I can't believe you guys are getting into this shit! The fucking shit with the guns, Gemma getting raped and Abel being kidnapped - that wasn't enough for you guys? Do you really have to add shit on top of it?"

Happy exhaled loudly and glared at Maddie. "You're starting to sound like a fucking old lady. And I didn't vote for it but it passed anyway, so now I have to deal with the fucking fallout. The fucking shit today wasn't shit falling back on the club, it was internal. Fucking prick Miles stole a brick of coke. Juice caught him and Miles tried to kill him but Juice ended up pumping him full of bullets. I just buried the body."

"Why would Miles do that?"

"I don't fucking know, street value on it? Probably thought we wouldn't notice, thought he could sell it and make some money on the side. Have we talked enough now?" he asked, running a ringed hand over his head.

"Yes, I don't think I want to know anymore."

"Good, don't know why Piney told you this shit anyway."

"I think he was hoping I'd end things with you over it."

"That gonna happen?"

"No."

"Then get your little hot ass in my room."

"Got it. I'll be naked when you get out of the shower."

"God dammit Maddie you're fucking beautiful" Happy stated, walking out from the shower completely naked. Laying on his bed with her red hair fanned out over his pillow and her porcelain skin contrasting with the dark grey sheets, her green eyes glimmered appreciatively as she took in the lines of his muscles rolling under his caramel skin. She ran her tongue over her lip and spread her legs open for him as he crawled above her.

"Did you wash away all your sins?" she joked as she ran her hands down his torso.

"You gonna save my soul Maddie?" he asked in his rumbling voice, leaning in and sucking gently on her neck.

She clutched his back, loving the feel of his mouth and the fresh soap smell coming off his body. "I think you're past being saved but I'll give you absolution."

"Fuck Maddie if this is absolution, I'm gonna sin every fucking day" Happy ground out, sliding into her and hearing her gasp at the feel of him inside her.

"Please do Hap, I fucking love this. You feel so good."

"So do you baby girl." Grabbing her thighs and hooking them over his waist, he took his time bringing her to the edge. Each time with her had him wanting her again. He would never tire of the feel of her, the feel of her nails digging into his side, the feel of her breath hot on his neck as she screamed out his name. He wasn't ever going to be able to give this up, she was his Eden. They lay together peacefully sleeping and when the morning light came, he took her again.

"Hey Tig where's Hap at?" Opie asked walking in behind Jax.

"Fucking,your sister" Tig replied as if that was the most normal thing in the world to say, although the smirk on his face suggested otherwise.

"Didn't need to know that asshole."

"You asked where he was, not my fault you didn't want the real answer."

"He take care of the Miles situation?" Jax interrupted, trying to redirect the conversation and save Opie.

Tig grabbed a handful of peanuts. "Yep," he said, chewing loudly. "Then he came back here and took Maddie to his room. I had to leave, couldn't sleep with all that screaming."

"Fuck you!" Opie shouted, seeing the sick glint in Tig's eyes. "Not one more word" he said pointing at Tig in warning. It was then that Maddie's voice carried down the hallway and into the quiet of the clubhouse. "God dammit I didn't need to hear that either!" he said in disgust, going to the door."

"Why do you think I had the music off?" Tig cackled as Opie went outside.

After showering and getting dressed, Maddie made her way outside, her overnight bag slung over her shoulder. "Thought you'd be staying at Pop's house" Opie said as she took a seat next to him.

"He told me to get the fuck out so I came here."

"He alright?"

"Yeah, Tara said he needs to take it easy - lay off on the late nights and the booze, so he'll probably be dead in a week."

"You heading back home?"

"Yep, I stopped by your house last night because I wanted to see the kids but they were out. Had a chat with your wife."

"How'd that go?" Opie asked warily. It had been a fucked up couple of days and the last thing he needed was more beef between his wife and his sister.

"She said you've been gone more and seem distant when you're home. I told her it was just club shit."

"Thanks."

"Is it club shit?" Maddie asked, looking at Opie questioningly.

"I don't know Maddie."

"Well you better figure it out cause you married her and you can't just go changing your mind now that the dust has settled."

"You trying to save my marriage? Thought you were against me and Lyla?"

"I tried to do that _before _you married her, but now that you've gone and done it, you can't ruin it. It'll break the kids' hearts. They need stability Op."

"Alright I'll head home then and make things right with the little lady."

"Good, don't make me come back here and put you in in your place."

He gave her a full hearted laugh. "I'll try. You know why I love you?"

"Because I could totally kick your ass at trivial pursuit?"

"Nope, because you didn't say I told you so."

"I love you Op."

"I love you too Maddie" he said as he planted a kiss on her head. Getting up from his seat, he headed to his bike as Happy came out showered and dressed.

"Talked to Jax. I'm gonna head to Bakersfield with you, stay the night and see Ma tomorrow."

"What a great surprise, let's get on the road then. The sooner we get there, the sooner I'll let you fuck me again" she said, winking at him as she raced to her car.

He followed her home, dismounting from his bike as she got out of her car. Scooping her up in his arms as her legs wrapped around him, he braced her against the door and kissed her urgently. They managed to get the door open and he maneuvered them inside. Maddie's hands pushed his kutte off his shoulders and she ground her hips against his hard on as he backed her up against the nearest wall. He wrenched her shirt off, greedily grabbing at her breasts while his mouth sucked and bit at her neck. Cursing when his phone went off, she grumbled as he put her back on the ground. "Yeah?" he shouted into his phone, pissed but struggling to stay focused as Maddie undid his belt and began nipping at his neck. Giving him a wicked grin, she reached for his hand and pressed it to where she wanted him to go. As his fingers slid into her pants and touched her wetness, she moaned out against him, holding his hand in place. He was just about to throw the phone across the room and take her right up against the wall when he heard the words 'president challenge' on the other end of the phone. "Shit, I'm on my way back" he said and disconnected the call. He removed his hand from her, hating the frustrated whine she gave. He cupped her face in his palm, kissing her.

"Sorry baby girl, club shit. I gotta go."

"Are you going to come back tonight?" she asked, looking up at him with her face still flushed.

"I'll fucking try, not sure though."

"You have to bury more bodies?"

"You gonna give me absolution if I do?"

"Yes" she said. Without breaking eye contact, she took one of the fingers that had been inside her and put it in her mouth, sucking on it gently. Pulling his finger back out of her mouth with a pop, she leaned up and kissed him urgently.

He broke the kiss, giving her a smirk. "Greedy little bitch" he said, savouring the faint taste of her.

**Thank you all for your wonderful reviews ame taking the time to read and follow its so appreciated!**


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

The sun had just begun to creep through the blinds in Maddie's bedroom when her phone woke her up. Blindly reaching for it on the nightstand, she answered with a croaky "yeah?" without opening her eyes.

"Maddie."

Sitting up in bed at the sound of her father's voice, her mind instantly went to Opie, early morning calls never led to anything good. "Pop? What's wrong?"

"Everything's fine just wanted to talk to you."

"Are you up early or just going to bed? Doc said no more late nights Pop."

Dodging her question, Piney cleared his throat loudly. "Maddie, baby you know that even with all the shit I love you."

"Jesus Pop are you drunk?"

"I ain't been drinking"

"Found Jesus then?"

"No, just listen to me dammit! Cut the smart mouth bullshit for once" he growled at her.

Sighing loudly, she lay back down. "Pop it is too early for this conversation."

"Well it's the time I got so shut up and listen. Maddie I know I fucked things up with you but when you asked me to stay in Charming I couldn't let you. You needed to go off go to college and make your own life. If I had've let you stay, you would be a washed up old lady by now with a mess of kids. I didn't want that for you and your mother sure as shit didn't want that for you. Sometimes I think I should've gone and told her to fuck herself and let you stay, but for once in my life I didn't want to be a selfish prick. I guess it didn't do any good though since you still ended up with a Son."

"Pop I'm not Hap's old lady. I don't want that with him and I'm not going to have a mess of kids."

"Make sure you don't. Don't get stuck in something you can't get out of."

"Pop where's this all coming from? What's going on in Charming?" Maddie asked. The conversation was making her nervous. Obviously something was going on that was making Piney re-think some of his decisions, and although it was nice to hear this from her dad, she couldn't help but think Piney's early morning confession was some kind of death knell.

"A father can't just call his daughter?"

"Not when it's you." Hearing a knock on her front door, she climbed out of bed. "Hang on Pop, there's someone at my door."

"I gotta go Maddie, I love you."

"Pop wait..." she started to protest, but the call had already been disconnected. Opening her door and seeing her mother standing on her front porch, Maddie sighed loudly, rubbing her forehead. "Jesus Christ, is it some sort of parent reunion day?" she said, rolling her eyes. She looked at Mary questioningly then noticed that she had brought Kenny and Ellie with her.

"Kids go inside and let me talk to Aunt Maddie."

Maddie closed the door after the kids went in, certain she didn't want them to hear whatever Mary was going to say. "Maddie I told your brother I could only watch them for a couple of days and it's been a week."

"Why do you have the kids?"

"Him and that whore had a falling out. He brought them to me but I got a life of my own. I already raised my kids and I'm not going to do it again."

"What the fuck do you want me to do about it, why'd you bring them here? Take them back to Charming then."

"Because your house was closer. I told Opie I was going to Tahoe this weekend."

"Really Ma? Bingo is more important than the kids?"

"They want to go home Maddie, they don't want to be at my house."

"Well they sure as shit don't want to be here."

"Then _you _take them back to Charming because I'm done. I'm washing my hands of all this shit. I tried to keep you and Opie out of all this Madelynn but you two just wouldn't listen. Always favored your father over me."

"No, no favoritism there Mary, you're both equally fucked up as parents."

"See right there, that's your father in you!" Mary shouted, turning her back on Maddie and walking towards her car.

Unconsciously Maddie clenched her hands into fists. It was too early to be dealing with her mother, and her constant belief that she was hard done by. Maddie hadn't even had her coffee yet and already she'd had that strange call from her father. The grating tone of Mary's selfish whining was getting on her last nerve. "You know what Mary?" she yelled. "Go fuck yourself. That's from me and Op both, you cunt!"

Turning around, Maddie went back inside. Looking at the kids sitting in the couch quietly, she asked "How much if that did you two hear?"

"All of it" Kenny, always the honest one, responded.

"Well your grandmother is a cunt. Are you guy's hungry?" Taking a mental stock of her fridge and realizing that it currently only contained spoiled milk and beer, she turned to the kids and smiled brightly. "Let's stop and get some food on the way to Charming" she said.

"Can I have chocolate chip pancakes?" Ellie asked hopefully.

"Sure whatever you want."

"Grandma Mary never lets me have them. Is that because she's a cunt?"

"Yes, yes it is."

She spent the morning having breakfast with the kids and then on the ride to Charming she casually pressed the kids for information about what happened to Lyla. All the kids were able to tell her was that Opie had done something to piss her off and she had just left. She passed Opie's house and not seeing his bike in the driveway, she headed to TM. When she pulled up, she saw Opie working on his bike next to Chibs and Jax. When he saw her and the kids get out of her car, he stood up wiping his hands.

"Look what got dropped off on my doorstep this morning" she called out to him as the kids ran to hug their father.

"Shit I'm sorry Maddie. Ma called me last night but I didn't have time to call her back."

"Yeah she went off to go play bingo."

"Daddy, Aunt Maddie let me have chocolate chips on my pancakes. She said Grandma Mary doesn't let me cause she's a cunt."

Opie looked to her while Chibs and Jax stifled a laugh from behind. "Nice Maddie. Are you taking a leaf out of the Piney school of parenting?"

Maddie held her hands up in defence. "Never said I was a role model."

"Kids, go see Gemma in her office and let me talk to Aunt Maddie before you learn something else you shouldn't." The kids scrambled off towards Gemma's open office door.

"What'd Ma have to say?"

"That you had a falling out with the whore, her words not mine" she said, noticing Opie's face darken. "Kenny told me that Lyla was mad and just left. What happened Op?"

"I don't think I love her" Opie said, looking at the ground.

"Hell of a time to figure that out! Should've done that _before _you married her."

"You think" he asked, sarcasm in his voice.

"What'd you do?"

"Cheated on her."

"Don't think that was the best decision you could have made."

"I know but shit wasn't right between us. I should've seen it before."

"You could have just told her that, probably would have been more effective than having sex with somebody else. Jesus Opie, I love you but you can be a real asshole."

"I already know that."

"You need me to hang out for a while - help get shit sorted with the kids?"

Opie stared at her in disbelief. "Really, you offering to stay in Charming?"

"For a couple of days. This isn't going to be like last time," she warned. "I'm not a replacement mom."

"You need to head back to Bakersfield to get some stuff? I can take them home and wait for you there."

"Nope packed a bag already, figured you'd need me."

"I fucking love you Maddie."

"You better. Kids let's go!" she shouted. Starting to walk to her car, she stopped and turned back to Opie. "Hey, have you talked to Pop?"

"Not today, why?"

"He called me this morning. Said he wasn't drunk but he told me he loved me, talked about how he was sorry for fucking shit up."

"I'll check in with him, see what he's up to. He's probably on a bender at the cabin."

The couple of days had turned into four. Although she had started to feel antsy, this time around in Charming it was better for her. Now that her and Happy's relationship was known, she was able to see him without waiting for a moment to sneak off. When Opie was home, she'd head over to the clubhouse to spend time with him in his bed. When Opie wasn't home, Hap would stop over if he wasn't on club business. She had moved into Ellie's room. Ellie was bunking with Kenny so at least she had some privacy but a small twin girls bed was no substitute for her king size bed at home. If Hap slept over it ended up with her nearly sleeping on top of him which she didn't mind.

"Hey" she said from her seat on the couch as Happy walked in.

"Opie home?"

"Nope."

"Kids asleep?" he asked, taking a seat beside her.

"Yep."

"What the fuck are you watchin?" he asked as he grabbed the remote from her hand.

"Real Housewives of Orange County."

"That's fucking stupid" he said, changing the channel.

"As much as I love to hear your views on modern popular culture, did you come here to watch TV or something else?" she asked, scooting closer to him and running her fingertips down his neck.

"Nope, but I ain't gonna do anything with you with a bunch of bitches cackling in the background" he responded as she climbed into his lap.

"Yeah you're right, the Battle of Waterloo is a real panty dropper" she said in mock seriousness when he changed the TV to the History Channel.

"At least it's got some real violence in it, not just women talking shit about each other. One of them should grab a knife and just stab the other bitch to get her shut the fuck up." Dropping the remote, he leaned forward and pulled her closer as he pressed his lips to hers. His hand had just began to make its way under her shirt when his phone went off. "Dammit!" he cursed as he shifted Maddie over to one side so he could snake his phone out of his pocket.

"You should just accidently leave that phone at the clubhouse when you come over here" Maddie huffed despite the fact that as his hand was continuing its path to her breast.

"Yeah" he said, answering his phone and ignoring Maddie's comment. Maddie knew it was serious when he removed his hand from her shirt and pushed her all the way off his lap, standing up.

"Was it about Tara?" she asked he when snapped his phone closed. Opie had informed her about the attack on Tara, warning her to watch herself and she'd received a further warning from Happy not to leave Opie's house without a patched member with her.

"Not Tara. Clay's been fucking shot."

"Oh my God, is he okay?"

"Don't know. That was Tig, I gotta get to Saint Thomas. Lock the door behind me and stay put inside until me or Opie comes back. Got it?"

"Yes" she nodded compliantly.

He gave her a chaste kiss. "Sorry baby girl."

"It's fine, go."

After Happy had left, she locked the door as instructed and then checked all the windows and on the kids as well. Jumping every time a car drove by, she nearly screamed when her phone rang a while later. She fumbled to answer it, seeing Opie's name on the caller ID.

"Opie did you hear about Clay?"

"Yeah, can you come pick me up? I need a ride."

"Are you at Saint Thomas?"

"No."

"Where are you then?"

She waited until Opie was seated next to her in her car before she began questioning him. "You want to tell me why I'm picking you up in Lodi at an all-night clinic?"

"Not right now Maddie, it's been a long fucking night" he said, scratching at his beard.

"Okay what about why you're not with the rest of the guys at Saint Thomas?" she asked, momentarily taking her eyes of the road to stare at him. The headlights of a passing car, illuminated his profile. He looked exhausted.

"Nope."

"Jesus, you're getting as bad as Happy with sharing information."

Ignoring her comment he turned to look at her. "Who's watching the kids?"

"Charlotte." Maddie had gone next door to ask the neighbor to sit with the kids while she went and picked up Opie.

"Jesus Maddie, she's a fucking crackhead! Probably robbed me blind by now."

"That's okay, I already swiped all the silver and good china" she joked, becoming concerned when she didn't get a laugh back from him. They spent the rest of the drive in silence. After Charlotte left, Opie checked the house then removed his kutte, slumping down on the couch. "Maddie come here" he sighed, patting the seat next to him.

"You finally going to tell me what the fuck is going on tonight?" she asked as she perched on the couch next to him.

"I went and checked on Pop at the cabin" he said, almost choking on his words.

"Yeah and how drunk was he?"

"Mad, he's gone."

The smile fell from her lips. "What do you mean, gone?"

"He was dead when I got there. He wasn't breathing. I guess his old crusty heart finally gave out. He had a heart attack." Opie hated the look that came over her face. He had told Jax specifically that no one from the club was to ever tell Maddie how their father really died. He couldn't spare her from the grief of him dying, but he could stop her from ever knowing he'd been shot and had lain dead for days. One of the reasons for the hasty cremation tonight was so she wouldn't have to see the bullet holes.

She let out a cry before the tears came. "He told me he loved me the other day and I didn't say it back. God Op, I didn't tell him I loved him." Opie pulled her into his arms and let her bawl, shedding tears for her father and the tears she hadn't shed when Donna passed. Bowing his head, Opie shed his own tears for the loss of Piney but also at the betrayal of the club. The club that had taken not only his wife but now his father. He held Maddie close, praying to God that she wouldn't be the next person taken from him. He didn't even nudge from his hold on her when his phone went off, knowing it was Jax. He had never not answered the call of his brothers but this time he wasn't going to. He had his true family in his arms right now and he wasn't going to let go.

"It's alright Maddie, he knew you loved him" Opie soothed, gently stroking Maddie's head.

"I love you Op" she sobbed, burying her head in his chest.

"I know Maddie, I know. I love you too."

**Have a great week! Hope you enjoyed.**


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